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HISTORY 



NEW YORK CITY 



FROM THE 



Sisiwrtj to fljf Iflwml lag, 




By WILLIAM L. STONE. 



PUBLISHED BY 

E. CLEAVE, No. 98 NASSAU STREET, NEW YORK. 



MDCCCLXVIII. 



HISTORY 



NEW YORK CITY 



FBOM THE 



Jisroomj to tlji s present Untj, 



WM. L. STONE, 

AUTHOR OF THE "LIFE AND TIMES OF SIR WILLIAM JOHNSON, BART.") 

" LIFE AND WRITINGS OF COL WM. L STONE," 

ETC., ETC., ETC. 






' c PUBLISHED BY 
E. CLEAVE, No. 98 NASSAU STREET, NEW YORK.. 



MDCCCLXVIII. 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1808, by E. Cleave, in the 
Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Southern District of New York. 



&*2 



PRESS 01'' STONE & BARRON 

aS NASSAU STREET. NEW YORK. 



TO THE 

Hon. HENRY SMITH, 
3? i| e s i d e n t 

OF THE 

$ e u> Yoqh Boaijd of $ up e t{ visors 

THIS HIS T O Ii Y 

IS RESPECTFULLY 

DEDICATED. 



NOTE. 

The author desires to express his thanks for the valuable aid" he 
has received in the preparation of this history, from the 

WRITINGS OF HuN. G. P. DlSOSWAY, MlSS MaRY L. BOOTH, D. T. 

Valentine, and toe late Col. Wm. L. Stone. 



HISTORY 



OF 



NEW YORK CITY. 



The history of new york naturally divides itself into three periods of time : — First — 

FROM ITS SETTLEMENT BY THE DUTCH TO ITS PERMANENT OCCUPANCY BY THE ENGLISH J Second 
— FROM THE ENGLISH CONQUEST TO THE CLOSE OF THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR; AND, Til ird — FROM 
ITS EVACUATION BY THE BRITISH DOWN TO THE PRESENT DAY. 



FIE ST PEEIOD. 

159S-1674. 

The settlement of New York Island by the Dutch, and its permanent occupancy 

by the English. 

It is the general belief that the first landing made on New York 
Island, or the "Island of Manhattan," as it was then called, was by Hendrick 
Hudson, in 1609. This, however, is not the case ; since the earliest records 
extant state that as early as 1598, a few Hollanders, in the employ of a 
Greenland Company, were in the habit of resorting to New Netherlands 
(*. e. New York), not, it is true, with a design of effecting a settlement, 
but merely to secure a shelter during the winter months. With this view 
they built two small forts, to protect themselves against the Indians. 
Nevertheless, the fact remains undisputed,' that to Hudson belongs the 
honor of being the first one who directed public attention to the Island 
of Manhattan as an advantageous point for a trading port in the New 
World. 

On the 4th of April, 1609, the great navigator sailed out of the har- 
bor of Amsterdam, and "by twelve of ye clocke" of the 6th he was two 
leagues off the land. He was in the employ of the Dutch East India 
Company, who had commissioned him to seek a passage to the East Indies 
by the north side of Nova Zembla. Having, however, found the sea at 
that part full of ice, he turned the prow of his little vessel, the Half- 
Moon, westward, and, after a month's cruise, reached the great Bank of 
Newfoundland, on the 2d of July. Thence he sailed southward to the 
James Eiver, Virginia, and again altering his course — still in pursuit of a 



6 

new channel to India — he coasted along the shores of New Jersey, and on 
the 2d of September, 1609, cast anchor inside of Sandy Hook. 

The topography of New York Island, as it was first seen by Hudson, 
was as follows : 

" The lower part of it consisted of wood-crowned hills and beautiful 
grassy valleys, including a chain of swamps and marshes and a deep 
pond. Northward, it rose into a rocky, high ground. The sole inhabit- 
ants were a tribe of dusky Indians, — an off-shoot from the great nation 
of the Lenni Lenape, who inhabited the vast territory bounded by the 
Penobscot and Potomac, the Atlantic and Mississippi, — dwelling in the 
clusters of rude wigwams that dotted here and there the surface of the 
country. The rivers that gird the Island were as yet unstirred by the 
keels of ships, and the bark canoes of the native Manhattans held sole 
possession of the peaceful waters. 

" The face of the country, more particularly described, was gently 
undulating, presenting every variety of hill and dale, of brook and rivulet. 
The upper part of the Island was rocky, and covered by a dense forest ; 
the lower part grassy, and rich in wild fruit and flowers. Grapes and 
strawberries grew in abundance in the fields, and nuts of various kinds 
were plentiful in the forests, which were also filled with abundance of game. 
The brooks and ponds were swarming with fish, and the soil was of lux- 
uriant fertility. In the vicinity of the present " Tombs " was a deep, 
clear, and beautiful pond of fresh water (with a picturesque little island in 
the middle)— so deep, indeed, that it could have floated the largest ship in 
our navy,— which was for a long time deemed bottomless by its possessors. 
This was fed by large springs at the bottom, which kept its waters fresh 
and flowing, and had its outlet in a little stream which flowed into the 
East River, near the foot of James street. Smaller ponds dotted the 
Island in various places, two of which, lying near each other, in the vicinity 
of the present corner of the Bowery and Grand street, collected the waters 
of the high grounds which surrounded them. To the northwest of the 
Fresh Water Pond, or " Kolck," as it afterwards came to be called, beginning 
in the vicinity of the present St. John's Park, and extending to the north- 
ward over an area of some seventy acres, lay an immense marsh, filled 
with reeds and brambles, and tenanted with frogs and water-snakes. A 
little rivulet connected this marsh with the Fresh Water Pond, which 
was also connected, by the stream which formed its outlet, with another 
atrip of marshy land, covering the region now occupied by James, Cherry, 
and the adjacent streets. An unbroken chain of waters was thus stretched 
across the Island from James street at the southeast to Canal street at the 
northwest. An inlet occupied the place of Broad street, a marsh covered 
the vicinity of Ferry street, Rutgers street formed the center of another 
marsh, and a long line of meadows and swampy ground stretched to the 
northward alona; the eastern shore. 



u The highest line of lands lay along Broadway, from the Battery to 
to the northernmost part of the Island, forming its backbone, and slop- 
ing gradually to the east and west. On the corner of Grand street and 
Broadway was a high hill, commanding a view of the whole Island, and 
falling off gradually to the Fresh Water Pond. To the south and west, 
the country, in the intervals of the marshes, was of great beauty — ■roll- 
ing, grassy, fertile, and well watered. A high range of sand hills traversed 
a part of the Island, from Varick and Charlton to Eighth and Greene 
streets. To the north of these lay a valley, through which ran a brook, 
which formed the outlet of the springy marshes at Washington Square, 
and emptied into the North River at the foot of Hammersly street." * 

Meanwhile, Hudson, having explored the river that bears his name 
as far as the present City of Albany, set sail on the 4th of October for 
Europe, bearing the news of the discovery of a new country — the opening 
for a new commerce ; for although his patrons were disappointed in finding 
a short road to the land of silks, teas, and spices, still, his great discovery 
was destine! to open in future time mines of wealth, more valuable than 
all the imagined riches of the Celestial Empire. 

At that period, Holland carried on a lucrative trade with the East 
Indies and Russia. Every year they dispatched nearly one hundred ships 
to Archangel for furs ; but Hudson's glowing accounts of the rich peltry 
ho had seen in the newly discovered regions soon turned the attention of 
the busy Dutch to a country where these articles could be purchased with- 
out the taxes of custom-houses and other duties. Accordingly, in the 
year 1610, a few merchants dispatched another vessel, under the com- 
mand of the Ila'f- Moon's former mate, to traffic in furs with the Indians. 
This venture met with such success, that two years after, in 1612, the 
Fortune and the Tiger, commanded, respectively, by Hendrick Christiaen- 
son and Adrien Block, sailed on a trading voyage to the ''Mauritius River," 
as the Hudson was first named. The following year, also, three more 
vessels, commanded by Captains Da Witt, Volckertsen, and Wey, sailed 
from Amsterdam and Hoven on a similar adventure. These were the 
beginnings of the important fur trade, which was, ere long, to be a 
chief source of wealth to Holland and America. It was now deter- 
mined to open a regular communication with the newly-discovered region, 
and to make the Island of Manhattan the depot of the fur trade in 
America. It was also resolved to establish permanent agents here for the 
purchase and collection of skins, while the vessels were on their voyages 
to and from Holland. Captain Hendrick Christiaensen became the first 
agent, and built a redoubt, with four small houses, on ground which, it is 
said, is now the site of No. 39 Broadway. 

A little navy was commenced about the same period, by Captain 

* Mis? M. L. Booth's History of New York. 



Adrien Block, one of the vessels of which was accidentally burned, just on 
the eve of his departure for Holland. Having abundant materials, 
however, in the Island of Manhattan, he finished another ; and in the 
spring of 1614, launched the first vessel ever built in New Amsterdam. 
She was named the Restless, a yacht of sixteen tons — a name prophetic of 
the ever-busy and future great city. The entire winter passed in build- 
ing the vessel, the Indians kindly supplying the strangers with food. 
Such were the earliest movements of' commerce in New Netherlands two 
centuries and a half ago ! 

A few months before Captain Block's return to Holland, the States- 
General of the Netherlands, with a view of encouraging emigration,, 
passed an ordinance granting the discoverers of new countries the exclusive 
privilege of trading at Manhattan during four voyages. Accordingly, 
the merchants who had sent out the first expedition had a map made of 
all the country between Canada and Virginia, as the whole new region 
was called, and, claiming to be the original discoverers, petitioned the 
Government for the promised monopoly. Their petition was granted ; 
and on the 11th of October, 1614, they obtained a charter for the exclusive 
right of trade on the territory within the 40th and 45th degrees of north 
latitude. The charter also forbade all other persons to interfere with 
this monopoly, in the penalty of confiscating both, vessels and cargoes, 
with a fino also of 50,000 Dutch ducats for the benefit of the charter's 
grantees. The new province first formally received the name of Neiv 
Netherland in this document ; and Dutch merchants, associating themselves 
under the name of the " United New Netherland Company,' 1 straightway 
prepared to conduct their operations on a more extensive scale. Trading 
parties to the interior hastened to collect furs from the Indians, and 
deposit them at Torts Nassau (Albany) and Manhattan. Jacob Eelkins, 
a shrewd trader, received the appointment of agent at the former place, 
where the first one, Captain Christiaensen, had been murdered by an 
Indian. This was the first murder ever recorded in the new province. 

In the year 1617, a. formal treaty of peace and alliance was concluded 
between the Dutch and the powerful nation of the Iroquois. The pipe 
of peace was smoked, and the hatched buried in the earth, on the present 
site of Albany. This treaty, as may readily be imagined, greatly increased 
the prosperity of the Dutch traders, who had hitherto occupied Manhat- 
tan merely by the sufferance of the Indians. Their agents accordingly 
at once extended their trips further into the interior, obtaining on each 
trip valuable furs in exchange for the muskets and ammunition so much 
coveted by the natives. This trade became so profitable, that when the 
charter of the United New Netherland Company expired, in 1618, they 
petitioned for a renewal, but failing to obtain it, they continued their trade 
two or three years longer, under a special license. 

Up to this period, the Hollanders had considered Manhattan as o, 



9 

trading post only, and dwelt in mere temporary huts of rude construction. 
But the British now explored the American coast, claiming the whole 
region between Canada and Virginia, and from the Atlantic to the Pacific 
Oceans ; and the Dutch, consequently, began to realize the importance of 
securing their American possessions in the new province. The English 
Puritans, hearing glowing accounts of New Netherland, requested per- 
mission to emigrate there with their families. But the States-General, 
having other plans in view, declined the prayers of the Puritans. They 
thought it better policy to supply the new province with their own country- 
men, and on the 3d of June, 1G21, granted a charter to the West India 
Company for twenty years, which conferred upon them the exclusive 
jurisdiction over New Netherland. It may well be questioned whether the 
States-General acted wisely in the course thus pursued. Had it filled the 
land, as the English were doing, with crowds of hardy, moral emigrants and 
pioneers — farmers, with their cattle and husbandry — the Dutch settlements 
would have advanced with far greater rapidity. Be this, however, as it 
may, the West India Company no sooner became possessed of the charter, 
than it at once became a power in the new country. Having the exclusive 
right of trade and commerce in the Atlantic, from the Tropic of Cancer to 
the Cape of Good Hope, upon the eastern continent, and from Newfound- 
land to Magellan Straits, on the western, their influence over this im- 
mense territory was almost boundless in making contracts with the Indians, 
building forts, administering justice, and appointing public officers. In 
return, the chartered Company pledged itself to colonize the new territory. 
The government of this association was vested in five separate chambers 
or boards of management, in five principal Dutch cities : Amsterdam, 
Middleburg, Dordrecht, one in North Holland, and one in Friesland. 
The details of its management wwBre intrusted to an executive board of 
nineteen, commonly called the Assembly of Nineteen. The States-General 
further promised, on its part, to give the Company a million of guilders, 
and in case of Avar, to supply ships and men. Meanwhile, the Puritans, 
not disheartened, reached Plymouth Eock, and thus conveyed their faith 
and traffic to the shores of New England, where they continue to this day. 

The West India ( !ompany now began to colonize the new province 
with fresh zeal. The Amsterdam Chamber, in 1623, fitted out a ship of 
250 tons, the New Netherland, in which thirty families embarked for the 
distant territory whose name she bore. Captain Wey commanded the 
expedition, having been appointed the first Director of the province. 
Most of these colonists were Walloons, or French Protestants, from the 
borders of France and Belgium, and sought a home from religious perse- 
cutions in their own land. 

With the arrival of the New Netherland, a new era in the domestic 
history of the settlement began. Soon saw-mills supplied the necessary 
timber for comfortable dwellings, in the place of the bark-huts built after 

n 



10 

tlie Indian fashion. The new buildings were generally one-story high, 
with two rooms on a floor, and a thatched roof garret. From the want 
of brick and mortar, the chimneys were constructed of wood. The inte- 
rior was, as a matter of course, very scantily supplied with furniture — the 
great chest from Fatherland, with its prized household goods, being the 
most imposing article. Tables were generally the heads of barrels 
placed on end ; rough shelves constituted the cupboard, and chairs were 
logs of wood rough-hewn from the forest. To complete the furniture, there 
was the well known " Sloap Bunch'' or sleeping-bench — the bedstead — 
where lay the boast, the pride, the comfort of a Dutch housekeeper, the 
feather-bed. Around the present Battery and Coenties Slip and the 
Bowling Green were the houses, a few of which were surrounded by gar- 
dens. The fruit-trees often excited the thievish propensities of the 
natives, and one devastating war followed the shooting of an Indian girl 
while stealing peaches from an orchard on Broadway, near the present 
Bowling Green. Meanwhile, commerce kept pace with the new houses, 
and the staunch ship, the New Netherlands returned to Holland with a 
cargo of furs valued at $12,000. 

Anxious to fulfill its part of the agreement, the West India Company, 
in 1625, also sent out to Manhattan three ships and a yacht, containing 
a number of families, armed with farming implements, and 103 head of 
cattle. Fearing the cattle might be lost in the surrounding forests, tbe 
settlers landed them on Nutten's (Governor's) Island, but afterward con- 
veyed them to Manhattan. Two more vessels shortly after arrived from 
Holland, and the settlement soon numbered some 200 persons, and gave 
promise of permanency. 

In the year 1(524, Wey, returning to Holland, William Verhulst suc- 
ceeded him in the Directorship. The latter, however, did not long enjoy 
the emoluments of office, for at the end of a year he also was recalled, 
and Peter Minuit appointed, in his place, Director-General of NewNether- 
landj with full power to organize a provisional government. He arrived 
May 4, 1626, in the ship Seamen, Adrian Jovis, captain. The first seal 
was now granted to the province, having for a crest, a beaver, than which, 
for a coat of arms, nothing could have been more appropriate. It was 
fitting that the earliest Hollanders of the "Empire City" should thus 
honor the animal that was so fast enricbing them in their newly-adopted 
home. 

To the credit of Director Minuit, be it said, the very first act of his 
administration was to purchase in an open and honorable manner the Island 
of Manhattan from the Indians for sixty guilders, or twenty-four dollars. 
The Island itself was estimated to contain 22,000 acres. The price paid, it is 
true, was a mere trifle, but the purchase itself was lawful and satisfactory 
to the aboriginal owners — a fact which cannot be truly said in regard to 
other regions taken from the Indians. 



11 

To assist him in carrying out his instructions, the Director was fur- 
nished with an Executive Council. The latter body was, in turn, assisted 
by the Koopman, who acted as Secretary to the province and book-keeper 
of the public warehouse. Last of all, came the Sellout- Fiscal, a civil facto- 
tum, half sheriff and attorney-general, executive officer of the Council, 
and general custom-house official. Thus early had the Dutch an eye 
to the " main chance," the export of furs that year (1626) amounting to 
§19,000, and giving promise of a constant increase. 

Some thirty rudely-constructed log-houses now extended along the 
shores of the East Eiver, and these, with a block-house, a horse-mill, and 
a " Company's" thatched stone building, constituted the settlement two 
hundred and forty-two years since of the present City of New York. 
Clergyman or schoolmaster was as yet unknown in the infant colony. 
Every settler had his own cabin and cows, tilled his land, or traded with 
the Indians — all were busy, like their own emblem, the beaver. 

In the year 16'29, the " Charter of Privileges and Exemptions" was 
granted in Holland, and patroons were allowed to settle in the newcolony. 
This important document transferred to the free soil of America the old 
feudal tenure and burdens of Continental Europe. The proposed Patroon- 
eries were only transcripts of the Seigneur ies and Lordships so common at 
that period, and which the French were, at the same time, establishing in 
Canada. In that province, even at the present day, the feudal append- 
ages of jurisdiction, preemption rights, monopolies of mines, minerals, 
and waters, with hunting, fishing, and fowling, form a part of the civil law. 
Pursuing, however, a more liberal policy, the grantees of the charter to 
the New Netherland patroons secured the Indian's right to his native 
soil, at the same time enjoining schools and churches. 

Meanwhile, the settlement in New Netherland continued to prosper, 
and soon became the principal depot for the fur and coasting trade of the 
patroons. The latter were obliged to land all their cargoes at Fort 
Amsterdam ; and in the years 1629-30, the imports from old Amsterdam 
amounted to 113,000 guilders, and the exports from Manhattan exceeded 
130,000. The Company reserved the exclusive right to the fur trade, and 
imposed a duty of five per cent, on all the trade of the patroons. 

The inhabitants, in order not to be idle, turned their attention, with 
fresh zeal, to ship-building, and with so much success, that as early as 1631, 
New Amsterdam had become the metropolis of the New World. The 
New Netherlands a ship of 800 tons, was built at Manhattan, and dispatched 
to Holland — an important event of the times, since the vessel was one of 
the largest merchantmen of the world. It was a very costly experiment, 
however, and was not soon repeated. Emigrants from all nations now 
began to flock into the new colony. They were principally induced to 
come by the liberal offers of the Dutch Company, who transported them 
in its own vessels at the cheap rate of twelve and ,a half cents per diem for 



12 

passage and stores ; giving them, also, as a still further inducement, as 
much land as they could cultivate. Nor were these the only reasons 
which caused so many to leave their Fatherland. With a wise and liberal 
policy, totally different from that of its eastern neighbors, the Dutch 
province granted the fullest religious toleration. The Walloons, Cal- 
vinists, Huguenots, Quakers, Catholics, and Jews, all found a safe and 
religious home in New Netherland, and here laid the broad and solid 
foundation of that tolerant character ever since retained by the City of 
New York. In our streets and along our broad avenues may be seen on 
any Sabbath, Jews, Gentiles, and Christians, all worshipping God in their 
sacred temples, and " according to the dictates of their own consciences." 
In the meantime, the Directors of the West India Company calcu- 
lated, with the strong aid of the pat room, upon colonizing the new country, 
and, at the same time, securing the important free trade in their own 
hands. But they were met, almost at the outset, with serious opposition 
from that class who, not content with a negative policy, took active 
measures to seriously injure this traffic. From the first, the object of 
the patroons had seemed to be a participation in the Indian trade, rather 
than the colonization of the country ; and they had even claimed the 
privilege of trafficing with the Indians from Florida to Newfoundland, 
according to their charter of 1629. This extensive trade the West India 
Company justly considered an interference with their vested rights and 
interests, and no time was lost in presenting their complaints to the 
States- General. That body thereupon adopted new articles, the effect of 
which was essentially to limit the privileges already granted to the 
patroons. This misunderstanding had the effect of interrupting, for a 
time, the efforts making to colonize and advance the new country. At 
length, in 1632, both parties became in a complete state of antagonism as 
to their privileged charters ; and, for a little time, a civil war seemed 
inevitable. In the same year (1632), Peter Minuit, the Director, it will 
be remembered, of New Netherland, was suspected of favoring the 
patroons, and was recalled from his Directorship. He returned to Hol- 
land in the ship Eendragt (which had brought over his dismissal), which 
carried, also, a return cargo of 5,000 beaver-skins — an evidence of the 
colony's commercial prosperity. The vessel, driven by stress of weather, 
put into the harbor of Plymouth, where she was retained, on the ground 
of having illegally interfered with English monopolies. This arrest of 
the Dutch trader led to a correspondence between the rival powers, in 
which the respective claims of each were distinctly set forth. The 
Hollanders claimed the province on the following grounds : 1st. Its dis- 
covery by them in the year 1609 ; 2d. The return of their people in 1610 j 
3d. The grant of a trading charter in 1614 ; 4th. The maintainanee of a 
fort, until 1621, when the West India Company was organized ; and, 
5th. Their purchase of the land from the Indians. The English, on the 



13 

contrary, defended their right of possession from the prior discovery of 
Cabot, and the patent of James I. to the Plymouth Company. The 
Indians, they argued, as wanderers, were not the bona fide owners of the 
land, and hence, had no right to dispose of it ; consequently, their titles 
must be invalid. But England, being at this period just on the eve of 
a civil war, was in no condition to enforce her claims ; and she, therefore, 
having released the JHendragt, contented herself with the mere assump- 
tion of authority — reserving the accomplishment of her designs until a 
more convenient season. 

At length, in the month of April, 1633, the ship Southben/ reached 
Manhattan with Wouter Van Twiller, the new Director-General (or 
Governor), and a military force of one hundred and four soldiers, 
together with a Spanish caraval, captured on the way. Among the pas- 
sengers, also came Dominie Everadus Bogardus and Adam Roolansen, the 
first regular clergyman and schoolmaster to New Amsterdam. A church 
now became indispensable ; and the room over the horse-mill, where 
prayers had been regularly read for seven years, was abandoned for 
a rude, wooden church, on Pearl, between Whitehall and Broad streets, 
on the shore of the East River. This was the first Reformed Dutch 
Church in the city; and near by were constructed the parsonage and the 
Dominie's stables. The grave-yard was laid out on Broadway, in the 
vicinity of Morris street. 

Van Twiller occupied "Farm No. 1" of the Company, which ex- 
tended from Wall to Hudson street. " Farm No. 3, " at Greenwich, he 
appropriated as his tobacco plantation. The new Governor and the 
Djaniinie did not harmonize. Bogardus having interfered in public con- 
cerns, which Van Twiller resented, the former, from his pulpit, pronounced 
the Governor a " Child of Satan." This, doubtless, was very true, but the 
" Child of Satan " became so incensed, as never to enter the church-door 
again. Early times had their own peculiar ways of doing things, the 
same as ourselves. In 1638, "for slandering the Rev. E. Bogardus," an 
old record states, " a woman was obliged to appear at the sound of a bell, 
in the fort, before the Governor and Council, and say that she knew he was 
honest and pious, and that she had lied falsely." 

Van Twiller had been promoted from a clerkship in the Company's 
warehouse, and seems to have been a very incompetent Governor. He 
probably obtained the place, not from fitness, but from the same means 
which act in similar cases at the present day, viz. : political influence, 
arising from the fact that he had married the daughter of Killian Van 
Rensselaer, the wealthy patroon. 

The Company had authorized him to fortify the depots of the fur trade- 
Accordingly, the fort on the Battery, commenced in the year 1626, was 
rebuilt, and a guard-house and barracks prepared for the soldiers. Several 
brick and stone dwellings were erected within the fort, and three wind- 



14 

mills, used to grind the grain necessary for the garrison, on the southwest 
bastion of the fort. African slaves were the laborers principally engaged 
upon these improvements. At a subsequent period, when these slaves 
had grown old, they petitioned the authorities for their freedom, and 
recounted their services at the time mentioned in support of their applica- 
tion, in proof of which they presented a certificate, given them by their over- 
seer : " That, during the adminstration of Van Twiller, he (Jacob Stoffel- 
sen), as overseer of the Company's negroes, was continually employed with 
said negroes in the construction of Fort Amsterdam, which Avas finished 
in 1635 ; and that the negroes assisted in chopping trees for the big house, 
making and splitting palisades, and other work." The " big house 11 here 
referred to was the Governor's residence. It was built of brick, and was, 
no doubt, a substantial edifice, as it is found to have served for the resi- ' 
deuce of successive chiefs of the colony during all the Dutch era, and 
for a few years subsequent. 

In respect to the walls of the fort, they were in no wise improved by 
the incompetent Van Twiller, except the northwest bastion, which was 
faced with stone. The other parts of the walls were simply banks of 
earth without ditches ; nor were they even surrounded by a fence to keep 
off the goats and other animals running at large in the town. When 
Governor Kief arrived, in 1638, as Van Twiller' s successor, he found the 
fort in a decayed state : " opening on every side, so that nothing could 
obstruct going in or coming out, except at the stone point. 1 ' Nevertheless, 
there is no doubt that the fort exercised a very salutary influence in keep- 
ing the Indians at a respectful distance.* 

In 1633, the commercial importance of New Amsterdam was increased 
by the grant of the " Staple Right, 11 a sort of feudal privilege similar to 
the institutions of Fatherland. By it, all vessels trading along the coast, 
or sailing on the rivers, were obliged either to discharge their cargoes at 
the port, or pay certain duties. This soon became a valuable right, as it 
gave to New Amsterdam the commercial monopoly of the whole Dutch 
province. 

A short time before the arrival of Governor Van Twiller, De Vries, 
whose little colony at Suaaendael, Delaware, had been cut off by the 



* In 1(141, an Indian war broke out, and raged for many months, resulting in the 
complete devastation of most of the farms and exposed (settlements, even those lying 
within a stone's-throw of Fort Amsterdam. The frightened settlers fled to the fort ; 
but the accommodation in the fort not affording them an adequate shelter, they estab- 
lished their cottages as close as possible to the protecting ramparts. Thus it was 
that two or three new streets were formed around the southern and eastern walls of 
the fort. After the danger had passed, these buildings were allowed to remain, and 
grants of land were made to the possessors. Thus was formed that portion of the 
present Pearl street west of Whitehall street, and also a portion of the latter 
street.— Valentine's Manual, 



15 

Indians, returned to America on a visit, in the mammoth ship. New Nether- 
hind. A yacht, about this time, also arrived — the English ship, William, 
with Jacob Eelkins, who had been dismissed as supercargo by the 
Company, in 1632. Enraged by this dismissal, he had entered the service 
of the English, and had now returned to promote their interests in the 
fur trade on the Mauritius (Hudson) River. 

This was a bold act, and contrary to the policy of the West India 
Company. Accordingly, Van Twiller, who, though an inefficient Governor, 
was a thoroiigh merchant, and understood the important monopoly of the 
fur trade, refused permission for the vessel to proceed further on its way. 
His demand upon Eelkins for his commission was refused by the latter, 
on the ground that he occupied British territory, and would sail up the 
river at the cost, if need be, of his life. Thereupon, the Director, ordering 
the national flag to be hoisted, and three guns fired in honor of the Prince 
of Orange, forbade him to proceed further in the name of his master, 
the Dutch Government. But, far from being daunted by this prohibition j 
Eelkins answered by running up, in his turn, the British colors, firing a 
salute for King Charles, and coolly steering up the river in defiance of 
Fort Amsterdam. The amazement of Tan Twiller at the audacity of the 
ex-Dutch Agent may be easily imagined. Astonished, as he was, at this 
daring act, the Director, nevertheless, proceeded very philosophically ; 
First, he summoned all the people in front of the fort, now the Bowling 
Green; next, he ordered a cask of wine, and another of beer; then, 
filling his own glass, he called on all good citizens who loved the Prince 
of Orange to follow his patriotic example, and drink confusion to the 
English Government. The people, of course, were not slow in obeying 
this reasonable request ; indeed, what more could they do, for the English 
ship was now far beyond all reach, safely pursuing her way up the Hud- 
son. Still, while they drank his wine, they were deeply mortified at the 
( Governors cowardice. De Aries openly accused him with it, and plainly 
told him, if it had been his case, he should have sent some " eight-pound 
beans " after the impudent Englishman, and helped him down the river 
again; but it being now too late to do this, he should send the Southbere/ 
after him, and drive him down the river. The effect of this advice was 
not lost upon the Governor, for in a few days after, Van Twiller screwed 
up his courage sufficiently to dispatch an armed force to Fort Orange 
(Albany), where Eelkins had pitched his tent, and where he was found 
busily engaged in trading with the Indians. The Dutch soldiers quickly 
destroyed his canvas store, and, reshipping the goods, brought the vessel 
back to Fort Amsterdam. Eelkins was then required to give up his 
peltry ; after which, he was sent to sea, with the warning never again 
to interfere with the Dutch Government trade. 

Meanwhile, the settlement at Fort Amsterdam — -the New York 
embryo — continued to increase and prosper, men of enterprise and wealth 



16 

often arriving. Most of these came from the Dutch Netherlands, and 
thus transferred the domestic economy and habits of Holland and the 
Rhine to the banks of the Hudson. Ships were loaded with bricks, 
burnt in Holland ; and at first, every dwelling was modeled after those 
they had left, and with store-rooms for trade, like those of Amsterdam 
and other trading towns in Fatherland. Thus, at New Amsterdam and 
Fort Orange (Albany), rows of houses could be seen built of imported 
brick, with thatched roofs, wooden chimneys, and their gable ends always 
toward the street. Inside were all the neatness, frugality, order, and 
industry which the inmates brought from their native land. A few of 
these original, venerable Dutch homes were to be seen, till within a year 
or two, in this city ; but we do not know of a single one now. Several 
yet remain in Albany; and it is almost worth a trip there to see these 
striking relics of " ye olden time." Until the year 1642, city lots and 
streets were unknown, adventurers and settlers selecting land wherever 
most convenient for their purpose. Hence tho ci-ooked courses of some 
of our down-town streets.* 

Cornelius Dircksen owned a farm by the present Peck Slip, and 
ferried passengers across the East River for the small price of three 
stivers, in wampum. At that time, Pearl street formed the bank of the 
river. Water, Front, and South streets have all been reclaimed for the pur- 
pose of increasing trade and commerce. The old wooden, shingled house, 
one of the last venerable relics of the olden time, on the corner of Peck 
Slip, was so near the river, that a stone could easily be thrown into it. 
Pearl, it is thought, was the first street occupied, the first houses being 
built here, in 1038. Bridge street came next ; and a deed is still in exist- 
ence for a lot on it, thirty-four by one hundred and ten feet, for the sum of 
twenty-four guilders, or nine dollars and sixty cents. This is the earliest 
conveyance of city property on record. Whitehall, Stone, Broad, Beaver, 
and Marketfield were opened soon after. In the year 1642, the first grant 
of a city lot, east of the fort at the Battery, was made to Hendricksen 
Rip. During the next year, several lots were granted on the lower end of 
'' Heese Straat, 1 ' as Broadway was then named. Martin Krigier was the 
first grantee of a lot in this section, opposite the Bowling Green, which 
contained eighty-six rods. There he built the well-known " Krigier' s 
Tavern,' 1 which soon became a fashionable resort, f 

Nor during all this time did the fur trade fail to keep pace with the 
growing local prosperity of the place. During the year 1635, the Directors 

* Pearl street, for instance. 

f Upon the demolishnient of this tavern, the " King's Arms' Tavern" occupied its 
place, which in after years was the headquarters of the British General Gige. 
Subsequently, it became the " Atlantic Garden," No. 9 Broadway, where it long 
remained one of the striking mementoes of the olden time. 



17 

in Holland received returns from this province to the amount of nearly 
135,000 guilders. But the traffic in furs was not the only source of gain. 
Besides that monopoly, they had commenced a profitable commerce with 
New England. Dutch vessels brought tobacco, salt, horses, oxen, and 
sheep from Holland to Boston. An old account says they came from the 
Texel in five weeks and three days, " and lost not one beast or sheep." 
Potatoes from Bermuda were worth two pence the pound ; a good cow, 
twenty-five or thirty pounds ; and a pair of oxen readily brought forty 
pounds. In Virginia, corn rose to twenty shillings the bushel during the 
year 1637 ; a shepel, or three pecks of rye, brought two guilders, or 
eighty cents ; and a laborer readily earned, during harvest, two guilders 
per diem. These were high prices for those times, and were probably 
caused, in a measure, by the sanguinary war which the New England 
Puritans* were carrying on with their Indian neighbors. The Pequods, 
failing to deliver the murderers of Stone, according to treaty, had tendered 
an •atonement of wampum, but Massachusetts demanded "blood for blood"; 
and they obtained it in the wars that followed. Winthrop says : " Scarcely 
a sannup, a woman, a squaw, or a child of the Pequod name, survived.' 
An aboriginal nation had been exterminated. It is the fashion to indulge 
in much panegyric about these ancestral doings, but here we can calmly 
trace the first attempt of the white race to extirpate the red men from 
their ancestral birthright of the northern regions of America. 

Notwithstanding, however, the large prices obtained for its wares, 
the year 1638 found the condition of New Netherland very unpromising. 
Although its affairs had now been administered for fifteen years by that 
powerful body, the West India Company, still, the country was scarcely 
removed from its primitive wilderness state, and, excepting the Indians, it 
was inhabited by only a few traders and clerks of a distant corporation. 
Its rich, virgin soil remained almost entirely uncultivated, and the farms 
did not amount to more than half a dozen. Doubtless, the Directors of 
the West India Company governed New Netherland chiefly to promote 
their own special interests — to advance which, large sums had been 
expended. But no efforts had been made as yet to introduce, on a large 
scale, a sound and industrious emigration. The patroon system also, to 
which reference has already been made, greatly retarded the settlement 
of the colony. A monopoly, its patroons neglected their most important 
duties as planters, and used their energies and means to compete with 
the Company in the Indian trade ; consequently, misunderstandings and 
disputes followed which became almost fatal to the prosperity of the new 
settlement. 



* Puritans, not Pilgrims. These terms, though generally used synonomously, 
refer to two entirely different classes of men. The Pilgrims never practiced religious 
persecution ; the Puritans did. The Pilgrims came over some fifteen years earlier 
than the Puritans. 

2 



18 

At this critical moment, William Kieft, the third Director-General 
and Governor, arrived March, 1638, as the successor of the weak Van 
Twiller. His first step was to organize a Council, retaining, however, its 
entire control. Dr. Johannes La Montagnie, a learned Huguenot, was 
appointed by him a member of this new board ; Cornelis Tan Tienhoven, 
from Utrecht, one of the oldest settlers, was made Colonial Secretary, with 
a salary of two hundred and fifty dollars per annum ; while Ulrich Leopold 
continued as Schout-Fiscal, or Sheriff and Attorney-General. Adrian 
Dircksen was made Assistant-Commissary, because he spoke correctly 
the language of the Mohawks, and was " well versed in the art of trading 
with them." The Rev. Mr. Bogardus continued the Dominie, and Adam 
Eoolansen the Schoolmaster.* 

The new Governor found the town in an extremely dilapidated con- 
dition. The fort, rebuilt only three years before, under a gorenunent 
contract, had lasted about as long as work generally does that is performed 
by army or government contractors, either of the past or present day. It 
had fallen completely into decay ; all the guns were off their carriages ; 
and the public buildings, as well as the church, were all out of repair ; 
only one of the three wind-mills was in operation ; and the Company's fine 
farms had no tenants — not even a goat remaining upon them. But the 
new Governor came charged with more onerous duties than simply the 
repair of houses ; he was the bearer of a decree that no person in the 
Dutch Company's employ should trade in peltry, or import any furs, 
under a penalty of losing their wages, and a confiscation of their goods. 
Abuses also existed in all the departments of the public service, which 
Kieft vainly attempted to remedy by proclamations. Death was threat- 
ened against all who should sell guns or powder to the Indians ; after 
nightfall, all sailors were to remain on board their vessels ; no persons 
could retail any liquors, "except those who sold wine at a decent price, 
and in moderate quantities," under penalty of twenty-five guilders (ten 
dollars), and the loss of their stock. Tobacco, then as now, was greatly 
in demand, the rich, virgin soil about New Amsterdam suiting the plant 
well; consequently, plantations for its cultivation increased so fast, that the 
plant was now also subjected to excise, and regulations were published 
by the Director to regulate its mode of culture, and check certain abuses 
which was injuring "the high name" it had "gained in foreign countries. "t 
But the new Governor did not confine himself to correcting official abuses 
solely ; he issued also, proclamations to improve the moral condition of 



* Here are some of the salaries of that early day, which we give for the benefit 
of some of our city officials : La Montagnie, as Member of the Council, fourteen 
dollars a month ; book-keeper, fourteen dollars and forty cents, with eighty dollars 
for his yearly board ; the mason, eight dollars ; joiner, six dollars and forty cents ; 
carpenter, seven dollars and fifty cents, and forty dollars a year for board ! 

f Albany Records, II., 3—12. 



19 

the settlement ; and all persons were seriously enjoined to abstain from 
" fighting, calumny, and all other immorahties," as the guilty would be 
punished, and made a terror to evil-doers. Eightly judging also, that 
public worship would be a peaceful auxiliary to his labors, and the old 
wooden church built by Van Twiller having fallen to pieces, he deter- 
mined to erect a new one inside the fort. Jochem Pietersen, Knyter, Jan. 
Jansen Damen, with Kieft and Captain Vries, as " Kirke Meesters," super- 
intended the new work, and John and Eichard Ogden were the masons. 
The building was of stone, seventy-two by fifty-two feet, and sixteen high, 
and cost 2,500 guilders ; its legend, translated from the Dutch, read : 
"Anno Domini, 1042, Wilhelm Kieft, Director-General, hath the Com- 
monalty caused to build this temple." New Amsterdam had a town- 
bell ; this was now removed to the belfry of the new church, whence it 
regulated the city movements, the time for laborers, the courts, merry 
wedding peals, tolled the funerals, and called the people to the Lord's 
House.* 

Hardly, however, had Kieft got his plans for the moral reformation 
of his people fairly under way, when, as before hinted, the patroom began 
to give fresh trouble ; that class now (1038) demanded " new privileges" — 
" that they might monopolize more territory — be invested with the largest 
feudal powers, and enjoy free trade throughout New Netherland." Nor 
was this all. In their arrogance, they also demanded that all " private 
persons" and poor emigrants should not be allowed to purchase lands 
from the Indians, but should settle within the colonies under the jurisdic- 
tion of the manorial lords — i. e., themselves. 

These grasping demands of the patroons were reserved for future 
consideration by the States-General ; and it was determined to try free 
competition in the internal trade of New Netherland. A notification was 
.accordingly published by the Amsterdam Chamber, that all the inhabit- 
ants of the United Provinces, and of friendly countries, might convey to 
New Netherland, " in the Company's ships," any cattle and merchandise, 
and might "receive whatever returns they or their agents may be able to 

* At this period (1638), the settlers in New Amsterdam obtained their supplies 
from the Company's store at fifty per cent, advance on prime cost, a list of prices 
being placed in a conspicuous position in some place of public resort. Here are 
some of the rates : Indian corn, sixty cents per schepel of three pecks ; barley, two 
dollars ; peas, three dollars and twenty-five cents ; flour, one dollar ; pork, five stivers ; 
fresh meat, five ; butter, eight ; tobacco, seven; dried fish, twelve (two York shillings) 
per pound; hard-bread, fifteen; rye, five ; wheaten, seven; cabbage, twelve dollars 
per hundred ; staves, thirty-two dollars per thousand ; a hog, eight dollars ; ordinary 
wine, thirty-one dollars per hogshead ; Spanish wine, four stivers ; French wine, ten 
per quart ; sugar, seventeen and twenty-four per pound ; flannel, one dollar and 
twenty cents per ell ; cloth, two dollars ; white linen, eighteen to twenty stivers ; 
red flannels, one dollar and twenty cents ; children's shoes, thirty-six stivers, or six 
York shillings ; a pair of brass kettles, forty cents each. 



20 

obtain in those quarters therefor." A duty of ten per cent, was paid ta 
the Company on all goods exported from New Netherland with the 
freight. Every emigrant, upon his arrival at New Amsterdam, was to 
receive " as much land as he and his family could properly cultivate. '* 
This liberal system gave a great impulse to the prosperity of New 
Netherland, by encouraging the emigration of substantial colonists, not 
only from Holland, but from Virginia and New England. Conscience had 
ever been free in New Netherland, and now trade and commerce were 
also made free to all. Political franchise in Massachusetts was limited 
to church members, and now " many men began to inquire after the 
Southern ports," not from the climate there, or the necessary wants of 
life, but, in the language of the old chronicler, " to escape their insup- 
portable government." The only obligation required of emigrants was 
an oath of fidelity and allegiance to the colony, the same as imposed upon 
the Dutch settlers. Both parties enjoyed -equal privileges. 

This free internal trade, however, produced some irregularities ; and 
a new proclamation now became necessary to warn all persons against 
selling guns or ammunition to the Indians. Still another edict prohibited 
persons from sailing to Fort Orange (Albany), and the South River (Fort 
Hope), and returning without a passport. Another very unpopular 
edict also, was shortly after issued by Kieft. His extreme anxiety to 
serve his patrons caused him to " demand some tribute" of maize, furs, or 
setvant, from the neighboring Indians, " whom, ; ' he said, " we have thus 
far defended against their enemies ;" and in case of their refusal, proper 
measures were to be taken to " remove their reluctance." 

In regard, however, to the Governors proclamation against selling 
guns, &c, to the Indians, nothing can be said against it. The case 
demanded it. Freedom of trade with the savages had, indeed, run into 
abuses and injurious excesses. 

The colonists neglected agriculture for the quicker gains of traffic ; 
and at times by settling L ' far in the interior of the country," and, by great 
familiarity and " treating," brought themselves into contempt with the 
Indians. Evil consequences, as a matter of course, followed this unwise 
conduct — the most unfortunate of which was supplying the savages with 
new weapons of defense. They considered the gun, at first, " the Devil," 
and would not even touch it ; but, once discovering its fatal use, eagerly 
sought the fire-arms of the whites. They would willingly barter twenty 
beaver-skins for a single musket, and pay ten or twelve guilders for a 
pound of powder. As no merchandise became so valuable to the red 
men, the West India Company foresaw the evil of arming the savages, 
and declared the trade in fire-arms contraband. It even forbade the sup- 
ply to the New Netherland Indians, under penalty of death. But the 
prospect of large profits easily nullified this law of prudence and 
wisdom. 



21 

In 1640, Director Kieft determined upon another unwise measure, 
viz. : the exaction of a contribution, a tax of corn, furs, and wampum from 
the Indians about Fort Amsterdam. This and other improper acts 
entirely estranged thern from the settlers, and laid the foundation of a 
bloody war, which, the next year (1641), desolated New Netherland. 
Meanwhile, Kieft, continuing stubborn, sent sloops to Tappan to levy 
contributions ; but the natives indignantly refused to pay the novel 
tribute. In their own plain language, they wondered how the Sachem at 
the fort dared to exact such things from them. He must be, they said, 
a very shabby fellow ; he had come to live in their land, where they had 
not invited him, and now came to deprive them of their corn, for no 
equivalent. They, therefore, refused to pay, adding this unanswerable 
argument : "If we have ceded to you the country you are living in, we 
yet remain masters of what we have retained for ourselves !" 

Notwithstanding, however, the many injudicious acts of Governor 
Kieft, it cannot be denied that, during his administration, the trade of 
New Amsterdam began to be better regulated. The streets of the town 
also, were better laid out in the lower section of the city.* In 1641, 
Kieft instituted two annual fairs, for the purpose of encouraging agri- 
culture — one of which was held in October, for cattle, and the other the 
next month, for hogs, upon the Bowling Green. The holding of these 
fairs opened the way for another important addition to the comfort of 
the town. No tavern, as yet, had been started in the Dutch settlement ; 
and the numerous visitors from the interior and the New England col- 
onies had to avail themselves of the Governor's hospitalities. The fairs 
increasing in number, Kieft found them a heavy tax upon his politeness, 
as well as his larder ; and, in 1642, he erected a large, stone tavern, at 
the Company's expense. It was situated on a commanding spot, near 
the present Coenties Slip, and was afterward altered into the " Stadt 
Hays," or City Hall. 

The Governor now succeeded better, not only in enforcing law and 
restraining contraband trade, but in checking the importation of bad 
wampum, which had become a serious loss to the traders, by reducing its 
value from four to six beads for a stiver. 

This wampum or seivant, from its close connection with the early trade 
of New Netherland, requires special notice. This kind of money, or cir- 
culating medium, embraced two kinds, the wampum or white, and the 
Sackanhook Suci, or black sewant. The former was made from the peri- 
winkle, and the latter from the purple part of the hard clam. These, 
rounded into beads and polished, with drilled holes, were strung upon the 
sinews of animals, and woven into different size belts. Black beads were 
twice as valuable as the white, and the latter became, therefore, naturally, 

*The price of lots, 30x125 feet, averaged at this period about $14. 



22 

the standard of value. A string, a fathom long.* was worth lour guilders, 
The best article was manufactured by the Long Island Indians: and, 
until a comparatively late period, the Bfontauks on thai Island, or rather, 
their descendants, manufactured this shed money for the interior tribes. 
A clerk of John Jamb A.stor many years ago informed the Hon. G. P. 
Disosway that he had visited Communipaw, and purchased, for his 
employer from the Dutch this article by the bushel, to be used by the 
great fur dealer in his purchases among the distant savages. It might, 
perhaps, be a curious question, how many bushels of wampufh is 
invested, tor example, in the hotel which bears the name of the great fur 
millionaire'.- 1 The New England Indians, imitating their whiter- faced 
neighbors, made a cheaper wampum, rough, of inferior quality, and badly 
strung. Nor was it long before the New Euglanders introduced large 
quantities of their imperfect beads into New Netherland for the Dutch- 
man's goods: next, beads of porcelain were manufactured in Europe, 
and circulated among the colonists, until the evil finally became so great, 
that the Council, in L641, published an ordinance, declaring that a large 
quantity o( bad seicant. imported from other places, was in circulation, 
while the good and really tine sewant, usually called " Manhattan Sewant" 
was kept out of sight, or exported — -a state of things which must event- 
ually ruin the country. To cure this public evil, the ordinance provided 
that all coarse sewant, well stringed, should pass for one stiver. This 
is the first ordinance, on record, to regulate such currency. In the year 
1017, they were again reduced from six to eight for a stiver, and thus 
became the commercial greenbacks of the early Dutch. 

About this period, the increasing intercourse and business with the 
English settlements made it necessary that more attention should be paid 
to the English language. Governor lvieft had, it is true, some knowl- 
edge mi the English tongue: but his subordinates were generally ignorant 
of it — a circumstance which often caused great embarrassment. George 
Baxter was accordingly appointed his English Secretary, with a salary of 
two hundred dollars per annum ; and thus, for the first time, the English 
language was officially recognized in New Amsterdam. 

A- the colony grew stronger, the Hutch scattered themselves more 
over the interior : established themselves more firmly at Manhattan; and 
in this way gave to the City of New York its first incorporation two hun- 
dred and fifteen years ago. The ferries received early attention from the 
corporation. No one was permitted to lie a ferryman, without a license 
from the magistrates. The ferryman also was required to provide proper 
boats and servants, with houses, on both sides of the river, to accommo- 
date passengers. All officials passed free of toll: or. to speak more in 

* A " fathom" was estimated, at " as much as a man could reach with his arms 
outstretched." The savages, consequently, were shrewd enough in trading with the 
whites) to choose their largest and tallest men for measuring sticks or standards. 



23 

accordance with the language of the present day, were dead-heads. But 
the ferryman was not compelled to cross the river in a tempest. Foot- 
passengers were charged three stivers each, except the Indians, who 
paid six, unless two or more went over together.* The annual salary of 
the Burgomasters was also, at this period, fixed at three hundred and 
fifty guilders (think of that, oh, City Fathers!), and the Shepens at two- 
hundred and fifty. A corporate seal was now granted to the city, in 
which the principal object was a beaver, as was also the case, as has been 
seen, with the seal of the New Netherlands. 

The first charter of New Netherland restricted, as we have seen, the 
commercial privileges of the patroons ; but in the year 1640, they were 
extended to " all free colonists," and the stockholders in the Dutch 
Company. Nevertheless, the latter body adhered to onerous imports, for 
its own benefit, and required a duty of ten per cent, on all goods shipped 
to New Netherland, and five upon return cargoes, excepting peltry, 
which paid ten at Manhattan, before exported. The prohibition of manu- 
factures within the province was now abolished, and the Company renewed 
its promise to send over " as many blacks as possible." 

In 1643, the colonists easily obtained goods from the Company's ware- 
house, whither they were obliged to bring their fur purchases, before 
shipment to Holland. The furs were then generally sold at Amsterdam, 
under the supervision of the patroon, whose share, at first, was one-half, 
but was afterward educed to one-sixth. Under this system, the price of 
a beaver's skin, w^ich before 1642 had been six, now rose to ten " fathoms." 
It was, therefore, considered proper for the colonial authorities to 
regulate th^ traffic ; and they, accordingly, fixed the price at nine 
' ' fathoms * of white wampum, at the same time forbidding all persons to 
" go into the bush to trade." Another proclamation also declared that 
no inhabitants of the colonies should presume to buy any goods from the 
residents. It would appear, however, that these ordinances could not 
be enforced ; for a sloop, soon after, arriving witn a cargo, the colonists 
purchased what they wanted. The commissary was then ordered to 
search the houses for concealed goods. But the old record naively says : 
" The Schout gossipped, without making a search." How closely do the 
custom-house officers of the present day follow in the steps of their ances- 
tral colleagues ! 

In 1644, the ever-busy New Englanders — imagining that the beavers 
came from " a great lake in the northwest part" of their patent — began 
to covet a share in the fur trade on the Delaware. Accordingly, an ex- 
pedition was dispatched from Boston to " sail up the Delaware, as high as 
they could go ; and some of the company, under the conduct of Mr. 

* On the L9th of March, 1658, the ferry was put lip at auction, and leased to 
Hermanns Van Bossung, for three years, at three hundred guilders per annum. 
Compare this with the price recently paid by Mr. Stevens for a lease of the Hoboken 
Ferry. 



24 

William Aspinwall, a good artist, and one who had been in those parts, 
to pass by small skiffs or canoes up the river, so far as they could;' 
Connected with this exploring party two centuries and a quarter ago, we 
accordingly notice a name of world-wide fame among us — that of one of 
our noblest and most honored merchants. The expedition failing, another 
bark " was sent out the same year from Boston, to trade at Delaware." 
Wintering in the bay, during the spring she went to the Maryland side, 
and in three weeks obtained five hundred beaver-skins — a " good parcel." 
But this second Boston trading voyage was ruined by the savages ; for, 
as the bark was leaving, fifteen Indians came aboard, " as if they would 
trade again," and suddenly drawing their hatchets from under their coats, 
killed the captain, with three of the crew, and then rifled the vessel of all 
her goods. 

This continued interference of New England adventurers with the 
Delaware trade, at length became very annoying to Kieft, as well as to 
Printz, the Swedish Governor of the Delaware colony. The Dutch at 
New Amsterdam, as the earliest explorers of South Eiver, had seen their 
trading monopoly there invaded by the Swedes ; but when the New 
Englanders made their appearance in pursuit of the same prize, the 
Swedes made common cause with the Dutch to repel the new intruders. 
The question of sovereignty was soon raised abroad by the arrival of two 
Swedish ships, the Key of Calmar and the Flame, sent home by Printz with 
laro-e cargoes of tobacco and beaver-skins. Bad wea%er, and the war just 
begun between Denmark and Sweden, made these vessels rim into the 
Port of Darlington in Friesland. There they were seised by the West 
India Company, which both claimed sovereignty over all the legions around 
the South Eiver and exacted the import duties that their charter granted 
it. The Swedish Minister at the Hague protested against these exactions ; 
and a long correspondence ensued, which resulted in the vessels being 
discharged the following summer upon the payment of the import duties. 
During the year 1644, Kieft, headstrong and imprudent as usual, 
became involved in a war with the New England Indians. At this junc- 
ture of affairs, a ship arrived from Holland with a cargo of goods for 
Yan Eensselaer's patroon-ery, and Kieft, the Dutch forces being in want 
of clothing, called upon the supercargo to furnish fifty pairs of shoes for 
the soldiers, offering full payment in silver, beavers, or wampum. The 
supercargo, however, zealously regarding his patroon's mercantile interests, 
refused to comply, whereupon the Governor ordered a levy, and obtained 
enough shoes to supply as many soldiers as afterward killed five hundred 
of the enemy. The Governor, much provoked, next commanded the ves- 
sel to be thoroughly searched, when a large lot of guns and ammunition, 
not in the manifest, were declared contraband, and the ship and cargo 
confiscated. Winthrop says that he had on board 4,000 weight of pow- 
der and seven hundred pieces to trade with the natives. For such acts 



25 

as these, Kieft seems to have been equally detested by Indians and Dutch, 
the former desiring his removal, and daily crying " Wouter ! Wouter !" 
meaning Wouter Van Twiller, his immediate predecessor. 

Meanwhile, the Indian war continued ; the Dutch settlers were in 
danger of utter destruction ; and the expenses of the soldiery could not 
be met. Neither could the West India Company send aid to its unfor- 
tunate colony, as that body had been made bankrupt by its military oper- 
ations in Brazil. A bill of exchange, drawn by Kieft upon the Amster- 
dam Chamber, came back protested. The demands for public money 
were too pressing to await the slow proceedings of an Admiralty Court. 
Accordingly, soon after this, on the 29th of May, 1644, a privateer, the 
La Garce, Captain Blauvelt, having been commissioned by the Governor 
to cruize in the West Indies, returned to Manhattan with two rich Span- 
ish prizes. 

Director Kieft now proposed to replenish the Provisional Treasury 
by an excise on wine, beer, brandy, and beaver-skins. This was opposed 
by his official advisers, or the so-called " Eight Men," because they 
thought such an act would be oppressive, and the right of taxation 
belonged to sovereignty, and not to an inferior officer in New Netherland. 
An old account says that the Director was " very much offended," and 
sharply reprimanded the people's representatives, declaring, " I have 
more power here than the Company itself ; therefore I may do and suffer 
in this country what I please ; I am my own master." 
Remaining immovable, however, he three days afterward arbitrarily 
ordered " that on each barrel of beer tapped, an excise duty of two 
guilders should be paid, one-half by the brewer, and one-half by the pub- 
lican." But those burghers who did not retail it were to pay only one- 
half as much. On every quart of brandy and wine also, four stivers 
were to be paid, and on every beaver-skin one guilder. Besides the 
excise on the beer, the brewers were also required to make a return of 
the quantity they brewed ; but upon their sternly refusing to pay the 
unjust tribute, judgment was obtained against them, and their beer 
" given as a prize to the soldiers." 

About this time, the ship Blue Cock arrived from Curacoa with one 
hundred and thirty Dutch soldiers, quite a relief to the New Nether- 
landers against their savage foe. 

Notwithstanding all the efforts to restrain illicit traffic, it still con- 
tinued at Rensselaerswyck (Albany), where three or four thousand furs 
had been carried away by unlicensed traders. Van Rensselaer, now 
determined, " as the first and oldest" patroon on the river, that no one 
should " presume to abuse" his acquired rights, erected a small fort on 
Beelen Island. A claim of " staple right" was there set up, and Nicho- 
las Koorn was appointed " watch -meester," to levy a toll of five guilders 
upon all vessels passing by, except those of the West India Company, 



26 

and to make them also lower their colors to the merchant patroon's 
authority. This annoyance soon manifested itself, for while the Good 
Hope, a little yacht, Captain Lookermans, was passing down from Fort 
Orange to Manhattan, " a gun without ball" was fired from the new fort, 
and Koorn cried out, " Strike thy colors !" "For whom ?" demanded 
the captain of the vessel. " For the staple right of Rensselaer !" was the 
reply. " I strike for nobody but the Prince of Orange, or those by whom 
I am employed !" retorted the testy Dutchman, as he slowly steered on. 
Several shots followed. " The first," according to the old account, "went 
through the sail, and broke the ropes and the ladder; a second shot 
passed over us ; and the third, fired by a savage, perforated our princely 
colors, about a foot above the head of Loockermans, who kept the colors 
constantly in his hand." 

For this daring act, Koorn was forthwith called to answer before the 
Council at Fort Amsterdam, when he pleaded his patroon's authority. 
Van der Kuygens, the Schout- Fiscal (Sheriff), also protested against " the 
lawless transactions" of the patroon's watch-meester. Still the patroon's 
agent tried to justify his course, " inasmuch as this step had been taken 
to keep the canker of free-traders off his colonies. Nevertheless, he was 
fined, and forbidden to repeat his offence. 

At length the pitiable condition of the New Netherland colony 
attracted the attention of the Dutch Government. Its originators, as 
before mentioned, had become nearly, if not entirely, bankrupt. 

To use their own official words, " the long-looked-for profits thence" 
had never arrived, and they themselves had no means to relieve " the 
poor inhabitants who have left their Fatherland ;" accordingly, the bank- 
rupt Company urged the L ' States-General " for a subsidy of 1,000,000 of 
guilders to place the Dutch province in good, prosperous, and profitable 
order. 

This body directed observations to be made into the affairs of New 
Netherland, and also into the propriety of restricting its internal trade to 
residents, with the policy of opening a free one between Brazil and Man- 
hattan. Upon making this investigation, it was found that New Nether- 
land, instead of becoming a source of commercial profit to the Company, 
had absolutely cost that body, from the year 1626 to 1644, " over 550,000 
guilders, deducting returns received from there." Still, " the Company 
cannot decently or consistently abandon it." The Director's salary, the 
report continues, should be 3,000 guilders, and the whole civil and mili- 
tary establishment of New Netherland 20,000 guilders. As many African 
negroes, it thought, should be brought from Brazil as the patroons, farmers, 
and settlers " would be willing to pay for at a fair price." It would thus 
appear that our Dutch forefathers had something to do with the slave 
trade, as well as the Southern colonies. Free grants of land should be 
offered to all emigrants on Manhattan Island ; a trade allowed to Brazil 



27 

and the fisheries ; the manufacture and exportation of salt should be 
encouraged, and the duties of the revenue officers " be sharply attended 
to." Such was the business condition of New Netherland in the year 1645. 
The five previous years of Indian wars had hardly known five months 
of peace and prosperity. Kieft, perceiving his former errors, now con- 
cluded a treaty of amity with the Indians, August 30, 1615. In two 
years, not less than 1,600 savages had been killed at Manhattan and its 
neighborhood, and scarcely one hundred could be found besides traders. 
The insufficient condition of the fort as a place of defense became the 
subject of serious consideration after this war, and the authorities in Hol- 
land, listening to the importunities of the colonists, gave directions for its 
improvement, requiring, however, that the people should contribute, to 
some extent, towards the labor and expense involved. In 1647, the sub- 
ject was discussed in the Council of the Director- General, and a resolution 
was passed that the fort should be repaired with stone laid in mortar, 
" by which means alone," it was stated, " a lasting work could be made," 
inasmuch as the earth to be procured in the neighborhood was entirely 
unfit to make it stable with sods, unless it were annually renewed, nearly 
at the same expense ; and as this project required a considerable disburse- 
ment for labor in carrying the stone, etc., it was found expedient to 
consult the inhabitants, to learn the extent to which assistance would be 
afforded by them. In communicating their resolve to the people, the 
authorities referred to " this glorious work, which must increase the 
respect for the Government, as well as afford a safe retreat to the inhab- 
itants in case of danger." The suggestion was, that every male inhabitant, 
between the ages of sixteen and sixty years, should devote, annually, twelve 
days' labor, or, in lieu thereof, contribute for each day two guilders 
(eighty cents). But the project was found too expensive for the means 
at hand, and the completion of the work with stone was abandoned for 
the time, the work being repaired with earth, as before. Nor does it appear 
that it was, as yet, protected by an inclosure from the inroads of the 
vagrant cattle, as the Director is found, from time to time, expostulating 
with the city authorities against permitting swine, goats, and other animals, 
to run at large in the town, from which great destruction to the works of 
the fortress ensued.* 

Soon alter the peace, in 1647, Kieft, having been recalled, embarked 
for Holland, carrying with him specimens of New Netherland minerals 



* This matter came to be considered of so great importance, that, in 1056, Governor 
Stuyvesant again communicated with the Holland authorities respecting the improve- 
ment of the fort, and received from them a favorable response, stating that they had 
no objection to have the fort surrounded with a stone-wall, and were willing, in the 
ensuing spring, to send " a few good masons and carpenters to assist in the work," 
enjoining the Governor, in the meanwhile, to have the necessary materials prepared 
and in readiness when the mechanics should arrive. — Valentine's Manual. 



28 

(gathered by the Karitan Indians in the Neversink Hills), and a fortune, 
which his enemies estimated at -100,000 guilders. Dominie Bogardus 
and Van der Kuygens, late Fiscal, were fellow-passengers in the richly- 
laden vessel. By mistake, the ship was navigated into the English 
Channel ; was wrecked upon the rugged coast of Wales, and went to 
pieces. Ivieft, with eighty other persons, including Bogardus and the 
Fiscal, were lost ; only twenty were saved. Melyn, the patrooti of Staten 
Island, floating on his back, landed on a sand-bank, and thence reached 
the main-land in safety. 

On the 11th of May, 1647, Governor Stuyvesant, as " redresser- 
general" of all the colonial abuses, arrived at Manhattan, to enter upon 
an administration which was to last until the end of the Dutch power 
over New Netherland. Well might the new Governor write home that. 
he " found the colony in a low condition." Disorder and discontent were 
everywhere apparent ; the public revenue was in arrears, and smuggling 
had nearly ruined legitimate trade. Such were the auspices — sufficiently 
gloomy — under which the last of the Dutch Governors entered upon his 
administration. Far from despairing, however, the sturdy Dutchman put 
his shoulder at once to the wheel. Publicans were restrained from sell- 
ing liquor before two o'clock on Sundays, " when there is no preaching," 
and after nine in the evening ; to the savages, none was to be sold.* The 
revenue, greatly defrauded by smuggling furs into New England and 
Virginia, for shipment to England, was now to be guarded by stringent 
laws. The introduction of foreign merchandise by vessels running past 
Fort Amsterdam during the night, was also to be stopped ; all vessels 
were obliged to anchor under the guns of the fort, near the present Bat- 
tery. For the purpose of replenishing the treasury, an excise duty was 
now, for the first time, levied on wines and liquors ; the export duties on 
peltry also increased ; and the unpaid tenths from the impoverished 
farmers were called in, although a year's grace was allowed for payment, 
in consequence of the losses by the Indian wars ; and, in addition to all 
this, two of the Company's yachts, still further to increase the revenue, 
were sent on a cruise to the West Indies, to capture, if possible, some of 
the richly-laden Spanish vessels returning to Spain. 

Stuyvesant also, seems to have been the first Governor who took 
pride in improving the town itself. He found the infant city very unat- 
tractive — fences straggling, cattle running around loose, the public ways 
crooked — many of them encroaching on the lines of the street, and half 
the houses in a " tumble-down" condition. All these evils he at once set 
about to remedy ; and one of his earliest acts was to appoint the first 
" Surveyors of Buildings," whose duties were to regulate the erection of 
new houses in New Amsterdam. 

* It thus appears that the Dutch themselves first introduced the excise law ; 
they should not, therefore, complain so bitterly of the one now (1868) in operation ! 



29 

The Dutch Company " now resolved to open to private persons the 
trade which it had exclusively carried on with New Netherland, the 
Virginia, the Swedish, English, and French colonies, or other places 
thereabout;" and the new Director and Council were ordered to be vigilant 
in enforcing all colonial custom-house regulations. All cargoes to New 
Netherland were to be examined, on arrival, by the custom-house officers, 
and all who were homeward-bound were to give bonds for the payment 
of duties in Holland. Nor was it long before Stuyvesant had an oppor- 
tunity of showing his zeal. The St. Benicio, an Amsterdam ship, was 
found trading at New Haven, without the license of the West India 
Company ; but the owners of the cargo applied for permission to trade at 
Manhattan, upon the payment of the proper duties. This permit obtained, 
Stuyvesant learned that the ship was about to sail directly to Virginia, 
without any manifest or duties paid. The case having thus assumed an 
open violation of the colonial revenue laws, the Governor embarked a 
company of soldiers, who, sailing up the sound, captured the smuggler 
in New Haven harbor. This bold act naturally produced a great sensa- 
tion ; and Eaton, the Governor of the New Haven Colony, protested 
against Stuyvesant, as a disturber of the peace. In reply, Stuyvesant 
claimed all the region from Cape Henlopen to Cape Cod, as a part of 
New Netherland, with the right to levy duty upon all Dutch vessels trad- 
ing at New Haven. A sharp correspondence ensued between the" State 
Right" parties, which resulted in the Dutch Governor issuing a pro- 
clamation, which declared : " If any person, noble or ignoble, freeman or 
slave, debtor or creditor — yea, to the lowest prisoner included, run away 
from New Haven, or seek refuge in our limits, he shall remain free, under 
our protection, on taking the oath of allegiance." The Dutch colonists, 
however, objected to this unwise measure, as tending to change their 
province into a refuge for vagabonds from the neighboring English settle- 
ments, and the obnoxious proclamation was thereupon revoked. 

About this period, 1648, it became necessary to regulate the taverns, 
as almost one-fourth part of the town of New Amsterdam had beome 
houses for the sale of brandy, tobacco, or beer. No new taverns, it was 
ordained, should be licensed, except by unanimous consent of the Director 
and his Council ; and those established might continue four years longer, 
if their owners would abstain from selling to the savages, report all 
brawls, and occupy decent houses — " to adorn the town of New Amster- 
dam." Notwithstanding, however, all these precautions, the Indians 
were daily seen " running about drunk through the Manhattans." New 
York, now the metropolitan city, witnesses every day and night crowds 
of such drunken savages in her streets ; and it would almost seem that 
our wise legislators have not wisdom or strength enough to frame laws 
to subdue or prevent this public evil of all evils. At last, at New Amster- 
dam, in addition to the former penalties, offenders against the temper- 



30 

ance laws were now " to be arbitrarily punished, without any dissimula- 
tion." 

In the year 164<S, no person was allowed to carry on business, ex- 
cept he was a permanent resident, and had taken the oath of allegiance, 
was worth from two thousand to three thousand guilders, at least, and 
intended to " keep fire and light in the province." This was an early 
expression of permanent residence in the Dutch province. Old residents, 
however, not possessing the full trading qualifications, were allowed the 
same privilege, provided they remained in the province, and used only 
the weights and measures of u Old Amsterdam," and "to which we owe 
our name." Scotch merchants and peddlers were not forgotten in these 
business arrangements, for it was also ordained that " all Scotch mer- 
chants and small dealers, who come over from their own country with 
the intention of trading here," should " not be permitted to carry on any 
trade in the land" until they had resided here three years. They were 
also required to build a " decent, habitable tenement" one.year after their 
arrival. Every Monday was to be a market-day, and, in imitation of 
fatherland, an annual ' : keemis," or fair, for ten days, was established, 
commencing on Monday after St. Bartholomew's Day, at which all per- 
sons could sell goods from their tents. The trade on the North and the 
South Rivers was reserved for citizens having the requisite qualifications. 
It was declared, however, that the East River should be " free and open 
to any one, no matter to what nation he may belong." All vessels under 
fifty tons were to anchor between the Capsey " Hoeck" (which divided 
the East and North rivers) and the "hand," or guide-board, near the 
present Battery. No freight was to be landed, nor any boats to leave the 
vessels from sunset to sunrise. These regulations were strictly enforced, 
and the high customs duties exacted from the colonists amounted to 
almost thirty per cent., " besides waste." " The avidity of the Director 
to confiscate," says an old account, " was a vulture, destroying the prop- 
erty of New Netherland, diverting its trade, and making the people 
discontented." This " bad report" spread among the English, north and 
south, and even reached the West India and Caribee Islands. Boston 
traders declared that more than twenty-five vessels would every year 
reach Manhattan from those Islands, " if the owners were not fearful of 
confiscation." Not a ship now dared come from these places. Difficulties 
constantly arising between the authorities of the fatherland and New 
Netherland, the "Presiding Chamber" now plainly perceived that they 
must make concessions, or lose all control over their distant colony. 
Accordingly, the " Commonalty of Manhattan" was informed that the 
Amsterdam Directors had determined to abolish the export duty on 
tobacco, to reduce the price of tobacco, and to allow the colonists to pur- 
chase negroes from Africa — all this being designed to show their " good 
intentions." They also informed Governor Stuyvesant of their assent to 



31 

a " burgher government" in Manhattan, which should approach as nearly 
as possible to the custom of " the metropolis of Holland." At the time 
that the colonists had obtained this concession (1652) of the long-desired 
burgher government, New Amsterdam numbered a population of seven 
hundred or eight hundred souls. 

At last, a naval war, long brewing, broke out between England and 
the United Provinces, and, without warning, Dutch ships were arrested 
in English ports, and the crews impressed. Martin Harpertsen Tromp 
commanded the Dutch fleet. His name has no prefix of " Van," as many 
writers insist. Bancroft and Broadhead are among the few who have 
not adopted the common error. The Dutch Admiral was no more "Van 
Tromp 11 than the English was " Van Blake," or our brave American 
"Van Earragut." Tromp, in a few days, met the British fleet, under 
Admiral Blake, in Dover Straits, and a bloody but indecisive fight fol- 
lowed. Brilliant naval engagements ensued, in which Tromp and De 
Ruyter, with Blake and Ayscue, immortalized themselves. But the first 
year of hostilities closing with a victory, Blake sought refuge in the 
Thames, when the Dutch commander placed a broom at his masthead — an 
emblem or token that he had swept the British Channel free from British 
ships. These hostilities between Holland and England encouraged 
pirates and robbers to infest the shores of the East River, and perpetrate 
excesses on Long Island and the neighborhood of New Amsterdam. 
Several yachts were immediately commissioned to act against the pirates. 
A reward of one hundred thalers was offered for each of the outlaws, and 
a proclamation issued prohibiting all persons from harboring them, under 
the penalty of banishment and the confiscation of their goods. Forces 
had even been collected to act against New Netherland, but the joyful 
intelligence of peace sent them to dislodge the French from the coast of 
Maine ; and thus, for ten years longer, the coveted Dutch- American 
province continued under the sway of Holland. The peace was pub- 
lished "in the ringing of bell 1 ' from the City Hall, and the 12th of 
August, 1654, appointed, piously, by Stuyvesant, as a day of general 
thanksgiving. 

During the same month, 1654, Le Moyne, a Jesuit father and mis- 
sionary to the Indians, immortalized his name by a discovery which 
afterward formed one of the largest sources of wealth in our State. 
Reaching the entrance of a small lake, filled with salmon-trout and other 
fish, he tasted the water of a spring, which his Indian guides were afraid 
to drink, saying that there was a demon in them which rendered it 
offensive. But the Jesuit had discovered " a fountain of salt-water," 
from which he actually made salt as natural as that of the sea. Taking 
a sample, he descended the Oneida, passed over Ontario and the St. Law- 
rence, and safely reached Quebec with the intelligence of his wonderful 
discovery. To the State of New York it has sine 3 been more valuable 
than a mine of silver or gold. 



32 

During the year 1654, the Swedish and the Casimir colonists on the 
Delaware had taken the Dutch fort there ; soon after, Stuyvesant had an 
opportunity of retaking the Golden Shark, a Swedish ship, hound to South 
River, which, by mistake, entered Sandy Hook, and anchored behind 
Staten Island. His error discovered, the captain sent a boat to Manhat- 
tan for a pilot, when the Governor ordered the crew to the guard-house, 
and dispatched soldiers to seize the vessel. The Shark's cargo was 
removed to the Company's magazine, until a reciprocal restitution should 
have been made. The Swedish agent sent a long protest to Governor 
Stuyvesant, complaining of his conduct. 

In the year 1656, there were in New Amsterdam one hundred and 
twenty houses and one thousand souls. A proclamation now forbid the 
removal of any crops in the town or colony, until the Company's tithes 
had been paid. The authorities of Rensselaerswyck refusing to publish 
this notice, the tapsters were sent down to New Amsterdam, pleading 
that they acted under the orders of their feudal officers. This defense 
was overruled, and one fined two hundred pounds, and another eight 
hundred guilders. 

The cities of Holland, for along time, had enjoyed certain municipal 
privileges, called "great" and " small" burgher rights. In Amsterdam, 
all who paid five hundred guilders were enrolled "great burghers," and 
they monopolized all the offices, and were also exempt from attainder and 
confiscation of goods. The " small burghers" paid fifty guilders for the 
honors, and had the freedom of trade only. This burghership became 
hereditary in Holland, and could pass by marriage, and be acquired by 
females as well as by males. Foreigners, after a year's probation, could 
also become burghers ; and the burghers were generally the merchants 
and tradesmen. The various trades and professions formed separate 
associations, or "guilds" and their members were bound to assist each 
other in distress or danger. In fatherland, each guild generally inhab- 
ited a separate quarter of the town, was organized as a military company, 
and fought under its own standard, having its own "dekken,"or dean. 

In the year 1657, " in conformity to the laudable custom of the City 
of Amsterdam in Europe," this great burgher right was introduced into 
New Amsterdam. This was an absurd imitation of an invidious policy, 
and the mother city herself was soon obliged to abandon it, notwithstand- 
ing Governor Stuyvesant attempted to estabbsh in New Amsterdam this 
most offensive of all distinctions — an aristocracy founded on a class, or 
mere wealth. 

In Mr Paulding's " Affairs and Men of New Amsterdam in the Time 
of Governor Peter Stuyvesant," we find a list of the recorded Great 



33 

Citizenship, in the year 1657. As a rare matter of the olden time, it is 
here given entire : 

Joh. La Montagnie, Junior, Jan Gillesen Van Burggh, Hendrick 
Kip, De Heer General Stuyvesant, Dominie Megapolensis, Jacob Gerritsen 
Strycker, Jan Virge, The wife of Cornells Van Teinhoven, Hendrick Van 
Dyck, Hendrick Kip, Junior, Capt. Martin Crigier, Carel Van Burggh, 
Jacob Van Couwenhoven, Laurisen Cornelisen Van "Wei, Johannes 
Pietersen Van Burggh, Cornells Steenwyck, Wilb. Bogardus, Daniel 
Litschoe, Pieter Van Couwenhoven. 

These twenty names composed the aristocracy of New York two 
hundred and nine years ago, when umbrellas and carriages were unknown. 
In our Pifth-Avenue-day of stocks, petroleum, and " shoddy," happy is 
the man who can possibly trace his pedigree to this pure, unadulterated 
Dutch-blooded stock ! 

We have also before us the names of the " small" citizenship, which 
number two hundred and sixteen. In a few short years it was found 
that this division of the citizens into two classes produced great incon- 
venience, in consequence of the very small number of great burghers who 
were eligible to office. It now became necessary for the Government to 
change this unpopular order. The heavy fee to obtain it frightened most 
foreigners away, so that it was purchased but once during a period of six- 
teen years. In the year 16G8, the difference between " great " and " small " 
burghers was abolished, when every burgher became legally entitled to all 
burgher privileges. 

During the year 1659, it was discovered that the Dutch colony had 
as yet produced no returns, and was already seven thousand guilders 
in arrears. It was therefore determined that, to prevent further loss, 
such colonists only as had left Holland before December, 1658, should be 
supplied with provisions. Goods were to be sold only for cash, and 
exemptions from tithes and taxes were to cease several years before the 
original stipulated period, and merchandise thereafter was to be con- 
signed to the City of Amsterdam exclusively. The colonists remonstrated 
against this new restriction of trade, which had the appearance of gross 
slavery, and of fettering the free prospects of a worthy people. This 
remonstrance was well-timed, and the City Council consented that all the 
traders on the South River might export all goods, except peltry, to 
any place they wished. 

In the year 1660, a second survey and map of New Amsterdam was 
made by Jacques Cortelyou, and the city was found to contain three hund- 
red and fifty houses. It was sent to the Amsterdam Chamber, in case 
it should be thought " good to make it more public by having it engraved." 
This early map has probably been lost. 

The restoration of Charles the Second, in 1661, did not produce in 
England more friendly feelings towards the Dutch; and the two nations 
3 



34 

now became commercial rivals. The Act of Navigation had already 
closed the ports of New England, Virginia, and Maryland, against Hol- 
land and its Colony of New Netherland. Such at that time was the 
narrow spirit of British statesmen; and many Independents and Dissenters 
desired to seek new homes, where they would be alike free from mon- 
archy, prelacy, and British rule. 

Nor were these considerations overlooked in Holland. The West 
India Company now determined to invite emigration to New Netherland 
by larger inducements ; accordingly, a new charter was drawn up, which 
granted to " all such people as shall be disposed to take up their abode 
in those parts," fifteen leagues of land along the sea-coast, " and as far in 
depth in the continent as any plantation hath, or may be, settled in New 
Netherland. 1 ' Emigrants were also to have "high, middle, and low 
jurisdiction, 1 ' " freedom from head-money" 1 for twenty years, property in 
mines, freedom for ten years from taxes, the right to use their own ships, 
and freedom in the fishing trade. " Therefore. -1 added the Company, " if 
any of the English, good Christians, who may be assured of the advantage 
to mankind of plantations in these latitudes to others more southerly, and 
shall rationally be disposed to transport themselves to the said place, 
under the conduct of the United Provinces, they shall have full liberty to 
live in the fear of the Lord, upon the aforesaid good conditions, and shall 
be likewise courteously used.' 1 A proper act, under seal of the Company, 
was issued at the Hague, which granted to " all Christian people of tender 
conscience, in England or elsewhere oppressed, full liberty to erect a 
colony in the West Indies, between New England and Virginia, in 
America, now within the jurisdiction of Peter Stuyvesant, the States- 
Greneral Governor for the West India Company."' How many " Christian 
people of tender conscience"' availed themselves of these advantageous 
offers, does not appear ; but the metropolis prospered. A better currency 
was now found to be indispensable, and the biirgomasters wrote to Hol- 
land for authority to establish a mint for the coinage of silver, and to 
constitute wampum (needed for trade with the savages) an article of sale. 
But the Amsterdam Directors refused to grant this improvement of the 
colonial currency. 

A number of breweries, brick-kilns, and other manufactories, carried 
on a successful business ; and the potteries on Long Island, some persons 
esteemed equal to those of Delft. Dirck De Wolf having obtained from the 
Amsterdam Chamber, in 1(361, the exclusive privilege of making salt 
for seven years in New Netherland, began its manufacture upon Coney 
Island ; but the Gravesend settlers, who claimed the spot, arrested the 
enterprise ; and this, too, notwithstanding Governor Stuyvesrant sent a 
military guard to protect him. 

In the year 1664, the population of New Netherland had increased ' 
to " full ten thousand,' 1 and New Amsterdam contained one thousand five 



35 

hundred, and wore an appearance of great prosperity. English jealousy 
evidently increased with the augmenting commerce of the Dutch. James, 
Duke of York, was the King's brother, and also the Governor of the 
African Company, and he denounced the Dutch West India Company, 
which had endeavored to secure the territory on the Gold Coast from 
English speculators and intruders. England now resolved to march a 
step farther, and, at one blow, to rob Holland of her American province. 
The King granted a sealed patent to the Duke of York for a large terri- 
tory in America, including Long Island, and all lands and rivers from 
the west side of the Connecticut to the east side of the Delaware Bay. 
This sweeping grant embraced the whole of New Netherland. 

The Duke of York, that he might lose no time in securing his 
patent, dispatched Captain Scott, with one hundred and fifty followers, 
to visit the Island of Manhattan, the value of which was now 
estimated at three thousand pounds. On the 11th of January, 
1664, the valorous Scott made his appearance at " Breuclen " 
Ferry Landing, and, with a great flourish of trumpets, demanded 
submission to the English flag. Governor Stuyvesant, dispatching 
his Secretary, politely asked Captain Scott, " Will you come across 
the river ?" and the reply was, " No ; let Stuyvesant come over with one 
hundred soldiers ; I will wait for him here !" " What for ?" demanded 
the Secretary. " I would run him through the body !" was the Captain's 
courteous answer. " That would not be a friendly act," replied the 
Governor's deputy. Thus they parted ; Scott retiring to Michout (Flat- 
bush) with his forces, with drums beating and colors flying, while the 
people " looked on with wonder, not knowing what it meant." Scott told 
them that they must abandon their allegiance to the Dutch, and promised to 
confer with Governor Stuyvesant. But when he reached the river, on his 
way to New Amsterdam for this purpose, he declined crossing it. Still 
he felt very brave, threatening to go over, proclaim the English King at 
the Manhattans, and " rip the guts, and cut the feet from under any man 
who says, ' This is not the King's land.' " This was, certainly, very 
bloodthirsty ; but the good people of Manhattan all escaped with whole 
feet and bowels. The valiant Captain then marched to New Utrecht ; 
ordered the only gun of which the block-house boasted to be fired in 
the King's honor ; and continued his triumphant march to Amersfort, for 
another bloodless victory. 

Governor Stuyvesant now ordered a new commission to confer with 
Captain Scott, at Jamaica, and Cornells Steenwyck* — one of the fathers 
of New Amsterdam, residing on his farm at Harlem — was one of the 
commission. It was here agreed that the English captain should here- 
after desist from disturbing the Dutch towns. The latter, however, 

* There is a portrait of Mr. Steenwyck in the collection of the N. Y. His. Soc. 



ye 

insisted that the basis of future negotiations should recognize Long 
Island as belonging to Great Britain. He also hinted that the Duke of 
York intended to reduce, in time, the whole province of New Nether- 
land — a declaration which was to prove true sooner than the Dutch 
Governor anticipated. 

In September of the same year (1664), Colonel Nicholls anchored 
before Noa\ Amsterdam with a fleet and soldiers. His imperious message 
to Governor Stuyvesant, was : " I shall come with ships and soldiers, raise 
the white flag of peace at the fori, and then something maybe consid- 
ered." The Dutch colony was entirely unprepared for such a warlike 
visit, and capitulated at eight o'clock on the morning of September 8th, 
1664. Stuyvesant, at the head of the garrison, marched out of the fort 
with the honors id' war. pursuant to the terms of the surrender. His 
soldiers were immediately led down the "Bever's Paatje" or Beaver Lane, 
to the shore of the North River, where they embarked for Holland. An 
English "corporal's guard" immediately entered and took possession of the 
fort, over which the English flag was at once hoisted. Its name, Fort 
Amsterdam, was then changed to " Fort James," and New Amsterdam 
was henceforth known as " New Yoek." This was a violent and treach- 
erous seizure of territory at a time of profound peace — a breach of private 
justice and public faith ; and by it, a great State had imposed on it a 
name which is unknown in history, save as it is connected with bigotry 
and tyranny, and which has ever been an enemy of political and religious 
liberty.* 

Before following further the course of events, a rapid retrospect of 
the commercial prosperity of New Netherland seems desirable. At the 
period when Governor Stuyvesant' s administration was so suddenly ter- 
minated by the arrival of the Duke of York's forces, the population of 
New Netherland was established at " full ten thousand.'' When New 
Amsterdam was first surveyed, in 1656, it contained one hundred and 
twentv houses and one thousand souls, which increased to fifteen hund- 



* As the surrender of Fort Amsterdam involved the loss of the entire Dutch 
possessions in New Netherland, the conduct of Governor Stuyvesant, in not main- 
taining its defense, was severely criticised by his superiors in Holland. In his justi- 
fication, he explained that the fort was encompassed only by a slight wall, two to 
three feet in thickness, backed by coarse gravel, not above eight, nine, and ten feet 
high, in some places ; in others, higher, according to the rise and fall of the ground. 
It was for the most part crowded all around with buildings, and better adapted for 
a citadel than for defense against an open enemy. The houses were, in many 
places, higher than the walls and bastions, and rendered those wholly exposed. 
Most of the houses had cellars not eight rods distant from the wall of the fort ; in 
some places, not two or three feet distant ; and at one point scarce a rod from the 
wall ; so that whoever should be master of the city, could readily approach with 
scaling-ladders from the adjacent houses, and mount the walls, which had neither a 
wet nor a dry ditch. — Valentine's Manual. 



37 

red in 1664. Not quite two hundred and fifty of these were 
male adults ; and the rest, women, and children below eighteen 
years of age. ' The same city now numbers about a million of people ! 
New York, on an average, has about doubled its population every twenty- 
three years. Be it remembered that trade and commerce became the 
great stimulus of population, and their regulation of the utmost import- 
ance. The damages incurred by the West India Company during 1 645-6, 
in Brazil, and estimated at one hundred tons of gold, rendered some 
measures necessary to retrieve its condition. Trade with that country 
was therefore opened in the year 1648 to the New Netherlanders, who 
were permitted to send thither their produce, and return with African 
slaves, whose subsequent exportation from the Dutch Province was for- 
bidden. Four years afterward, the province obtained the privilege of 
trading to Africa for slaves and other articles. In the same year, the 
monopoly of the carrying trade between Holland and this country (before 
in the hands of the Amsterdam Chamber) was abolished ; " for the first 
time," private vessels were now entered at Amsterdam ; and in 1659 the 
privilege of exporting produce to France, Spain, Italy, and the Caribbean 
Islands, was obtained. Thus, the markets of the world, except those of 
the East, were opened to New Netherland ships. From this regulation, 
however, furs alone were an exception, as these were to be sent exclu- 
sively to Amsterdam. 

The duties were fixed by the tariff of 1648, at ten per cent, on imported, 
and fifteen upon exported goods ; but some difference existed in favor of 
English colonial buttons, causing them first to be sent to New England, 
and thence imported into New Netherland at a low rate. To obviate 
this, in 1651 the duties on such goods were raised to sixteen per cent., 
tobacco excepted, its eight per cent, tax being taken off. In the year 
1655, the duties on imports again were reduced to ten per cent., and in 
1659, owing to the demand for lead to be used in window-frames, this 
article was placed on the free-list. As we have noticed, the industry of 
the Dutch colonists was early manifested in ship-building. At the close 
of Stuyvesant's administration, a number of distilleries, breweries, and 
potasheries, were in operation, with several manufactories of tiles, bricks, 
and earthenware. An attempt was also made, in 1657, to introduce the 
silk culture ; two years after, midberry-trees were exported to Curacoa ; 
and, as before stated, the making of salt was attempted ; but the in- 
habitants of Grravesend, claiming Coney Island under their patent, 
destroyed the houses and improvements, burnt the fences, and threatened 
to throw the workmen into the flames. 

Although ivampum or " zeaivan" had become almost the exclusive 
currency of New Netherlands (1664), still, beaver remained the standard 
of value. During the years 1651-2, Director Stuyvesant tried to introduce 
a specie currency, and applied to Holland for twenty-five thousand guilders 



38 

in Dutch shillings and four-penny pieces, but the Directors there disap- 
proved of his project. The people were thus entirely dependent on wam- 
pum, as we are now upon " greenbacks," and the value of wages, prop- 
erty, and every commodity, was, in consequence, seriously disturbed. So 
it is in this day, and ever will be, with an irredeemable currency, whether 
of clam-shells, thin paper, or anything else, not equal to specie. At first 
wampum passed at the rate of four black beads for one stiver ; next, it 
was lowered to six, and in 1G57 to eight, and then ordered to be consid- 
ered a tender for gold and silver. To a similar level our wiseacre finan- 
ciers would now reduce our paper-money. But Stuyvesant wisely 
objected, as it would bring the value of property to naught. In the year 
1659, the white wampum was next reduced from twelve to sixteen, and 
the black from six to eight for a stiver. What was the result ? 
The holder was obliged to give more wampum for any article he pur- 
chased of the trader, who, in return, allowed the natives a large quantity 
of it for his beavers and skins; and, to use the plain record of the day, 
" little or no benefit accrued." Nominally, prices advanced, when beavers 
which had sold for twelve and fourteen (guilders) rose to twenty-two and 
twenty-four, bread from fourteen to twenty-two stivers — eight-pound 
loafs — beef nine to ten stivers per pound, pork fifteen to twenty stivers, 
shoes from three and a half guilders to twelve a pair, and wrought-iron 
from eighteen to twenty stivers the pound. Beavers and specie remained 
all the while of equal value ; but the difference between these and 
wampum was fifty per cent. The effect on wages was almost ruinous. 
An old record says : "The poor farmer, laborer, and public officer, being 
paid in zeawan, are almost reduced to the necessity of living on alms." 

Those in the employ of the Dutch Company asked that their salaries 
might be paid in beavers, but this was refused ; as well might public offi- 
cers in our day desire to receive gold and silver for their services. This 
depreciation of the currency, and the consequent disturbance of prices, 
caused much popular clamor, and various expedients were adopted to 
amend the unfortunate state of things. The Directors of New Nether- 
land would have the colonists consider wampum as (i bullion," but would 
only receive beavers in payment of duties and taxes. We adopt some- 
thing of the same theory in our Custom-House payments. Governor 
Stuyvesant raised the value of specie in the country twenty to twenty- 
five per cent. " to prevent its exportation," and our Secretary of the Treasury 
has been striving, after a fashion, to imitate the now two-hundred-year 
time-honored financial example of the long-buried old Dutch Governor. 
Finally, however, the price of beaver in 1003 fell from eight guilders 
(specie) to four and a half, white wampum from sixteen to eight, black 
from eight to four for a stiver. What a fall ! This was the state of 
the public finances when the English came in possession of New Nether- 
land. Some persons are met with at the present time who fear a similar 



39 

financial crash sooner or later in onr enlightened land with its hundreds 
of millions in paper-money operations and promises. 

The public revenue in New Netherland embraced two descriptions, 
provincial and municipal : the former consisting of the export duty on furs, 
the impost on European goods, with the tenths of agricultural produce, but- 
ter, cheese, etc. ; the latter of an excise duty on liquors and slaughtered cat- 
tle. In the year 1655, the duty on exported furs is stated at twenty-two 
thousand guilders, or eight thousand dollars. The expenses of the Gov- 
ernment became very large, especially from the Indian wars, which also 
cut off the supplies of furs ; so that by the close of Stuyvesant's adminis- 
tration, there was a deficit of fifty thousand florins, or twenty thousand 
dollars. The municipal revenue arising from the liquor excise was of two 
kinds, the tapsters and the burghers — the first paying a duty of four florins 
a ton on home-brewed, and six on foreign beer ; eight florins a hogshead on 
French ; and four on Spanish wine, brandy, or other spirits. These rates 
were doubled in 1662. The income of New Amsterdam from these 
sources was estimated at twenty-five thousand guilders. The Company 
in Holland had now expended twelve tons of gold in the settlement of 
New Netherland overall the public receipts; and now (1664), when some 
return was expected for this large outlay, foreigners seized and pos- 
sessed themselves of all the benefits resulting from such expenditures. 

We again resume the thread of our narrative. The war which broke 
out in 1672 between the English and the Dutch, and which was chiefly 
carried on by the navies of the two powers, occasioned apprehensions for 
the safety of the Province of New York ; and Governor Lovelace the suc- 
cessor of Nicholls, the first English Governor, made preparations for a 
demonstration of that character on the part of the Dutch. Nor were his 
fears unfounded, although, some months elapsing without any appear- 
ance of the enemy, he allowed himself to fall into a fatal sense of security, 
and accordingly disbanded the levies, while he himself departed on a 
visit to the Eastern colonies, leaving the fort in charge of Captain John 
Manning. The Dutch, however, were not asleep ; nor had they relin- 
quished their design. Determined to regain New Amsterdam, at all haz- 
ards, they fitted out a fleet of five ships, commanded by Admirals Benckes 
and Evertsen, with Captains Colve, Boes, and Van Zye. On the 29th 
of July, 1673, they appeared off Sandy Hook ; and quietly sailing up the 
bay, and anchoring before Staten Island, soon appeared opposite the Bat- 
tery. The fleet then opened a heavy cannonade upon the city, at the same 
time that Captain Colve, landing with six hundred men, drew up in order 
of battle on the Commons, ready to march into the city. At a given signal 
the men marched down Broadway, whereupon Captain Manning surren- 
dered the fort, on condition that its garrison should march out with all 
the honors of war. This condition having been granted, the Dutch 
troops again possessed the fort and city. New York received the name 



40 

of New Orange, and the fort itself the name of Fort William Hendrick. 
( Governor Lovelace, who. meanwhile, had hastened back from his pleasure 
tour, was allowed to return with the Dutch Admiral only ; however, to 
receive from the English Government a severe reprimand for cowardice 
and treachery, and to learn that his estates had been confiscated to the 
Duke of York. 

( Japtain Colve, now in command of the Province of New Netherland, 
received a commission from Benckes and Evertsen to govern the new 
territory. His rule, though brief, was energetic. He at once took meas- 
ures to improve the defenses of the fort; and in October, 1673, we find 
it stated in one of his orders, that the fortifications had then, at great 
expense and labor to the citizens and inhabitants, been brought " to per- 
fection/' Anthony De Milt was appointed Schout, with three burgo- 
masters and five schepens. The entire city assumed the appearance of 
a military post, the Commons (the present park) becoming the parade- 
ground. A wall or palisade was placed around it, running from Trinity 
Church along Wall street — hence its name — and block-houses protected 
the settlement on every side. Every day the Schout reviewed the mili- 
tary, before the " Stadt Huys," at the head of Coenties Slip. At six in 
the evening he received the city keys, and with a guard of six men locked 
the public gates, and stationed the sentinels. He unlocked the gates at 
sunrise. The city at this period numbered three hundred and twenty- 
two houses. 

But the second administration of the Dutch was destined to be of 
short duration. On the 9th of February, 1674, the treaty of peace 
between England and the States-General was signed at Westminister; and 
the Dutch, having discovered and possessed the beautiful conntry of New 
Netherlands for almost sixty years, were now, once and forever, dis- 
possessed of it. On that day the old fort again became " Fort James," 
having surrendered to Sir Edmund Andrews, who had been appointed 
Governor by the Duke of York. 

Before closing this section, and bidding farewell entirely to New 
York under the Dutch rule, it seems fitting to glance somewhat minutely 
at the social manners and customs of our early Dutch ancestors. 

The Dutch of New Amsterdam were distinguished for their good 
nature, love of home, and cordial hospitality. Fast young men, late 
hours, and fashionable dissipation were unknown. There was, neverthe- 
less, plenty of opportunity for healthful recreation. Holidays were abund- 
ant, each family having some of its own, such as birthdays, christenings, 
and marriage anniversaries. Each season, too, introduced its own 
peculiar and social festivals — the "Quilting." "Apple-Raising,'' and 
" Husking Bees." The work on such occasions was soon finished, after 
which the guests sat down to a supper, well supplied with chocolate and 
waffles — the evening terminating with a merry dance. Dancing was a 



41 

favorite amusement. The slaves danced to the music of their rude 
instruments, in the markets ; while the maidens and youths practiced the 
same amusement at their social parties, and around the annual May-Pole, 
on the " Bowling Green." 

Besides such holidays, five public or national festivals were observed. 
These were, Kersteydt, or Christmas ; Nieuw Jar, or New Year ; Pacts, or 
Passover; Pinkter, Whitsuntide; and Santa Clam, St. Nicholas, or Cris- 
Kinkle Day. The morn of the Nativity was hailed with universal saluta- 
tions of a " Merry Christmas" — a good old Knickerbocker custom which 
has descended unimpaired to us. Next, in the day's programme, came 
"Turkey Shooting" — the young men repairing either to the "Beekman 
Swamp," or on the Common (Park), for this amusement. Each man 
payed a few stivers* for a " chance, 1 ' when the best shot obtained the 
prize. The day was also commemorated, as it is at the present day, by 
family dinners, and closed with domestic gayety and cheerfulness. 

New-Years Day was devoted to the universal interchange of visits. 
Every door in New Amsterdam was thrown wide open, and a warm wel- 
come extended to the stranger as well as the friend. It was considered a 
breach of established etiquette to omit any acquaintance in these annual 
calls, by which old friendships were renewed, family differences settled, 
and broken or neglected intimacies restored. This is another of the 
excellent customs of the olden times that still continues among New 
Yorkers ; and its origin, like many others, is thus traced exclusively to 
the earliest Hollanders. 

Paas, or Easter, was a famous festival among the Dutch, but is now 
almost forgotten, except by the children, who still take considerable 
interest in coloring eggs in honor of the day. The eggs were found then 
on every table. This old festival, however, is rapidly passing away, and 
like Pinkter will soon be forgotten. 

Santa Claus, however, was the day of all others with the little Dutch 
folk, for it was sacred to St. Nicholas — the tutelar divinity of New 
Amsterdam, who had presided at the figure-head of the first emigrant 
ship that reached her shores. The first church erected within her fort 
was also named after St. Nicholas. He was, to the imagination of the 
little people, a jolly, rosy-cheeked, little old man, with a slouched hat, 
large Flemish nose, and a very long pipe. His sleigh, loaded with all 
sorts of Christmas gifts, was drawn by swift reindeer ; and, as he drove 
rapidly over the roofs of the houses, he would pause at the chimneys, to 
leave presents in the stockings of the good children ; if bad, they might 
expect nothing but a switch or leather-strap. In this way the young 
Knickerbockers became models of good behavior and propriety. They 
used to sing a suitable hymn on the occasion, one verse of which is here 

* A stiver was equal to nearly two cents in U. S. money. Forty of them' made a 
guilder. 



42 

given, for the benefit of those readers who may wish to know how it 
sounded in Dutch : 

" Sint Nicholaas, myn goden vriend, 
Ik heb u altyd wel gediend ; 
Als gy my nu wot wilt geben, 
Pal ik dienen als myn leven." 

TRANSLATION. 

" Saint Nicholas, my dear, good friend, 
To serve you ever was my end ; 
If you me now something will give, 
Serve you, I will, as long as I live." 

"Dinner parties " in these primitive days were unknown; but this 
seeming lack of social intercourse was more than made up by the well- 
known and numerous tea parties. To " take tea out " was a Dutch insti- 
tution, and one of great importance. The matrons arrayed in their best 
petticoats and linsey jackets, " home spun " by their own wheels, would 
proceed on the intended afternoon visit. They wore capacious pockets, 
with scissors, pin-cushion, and keys hanging from their girdle, outside 
their dress ; and, reaching the neighbor's house, the visitors industriously 
used knitting-needles and tongues at the same time. Now, the village 
gossip was talked over, neighbors' affairs settled, and the stockings finished 
by tea-time, when the important meal appeared on the table precisely at six 
o'clock. This was always the occasion for the display of the family plate, 
with the Lilliputian cups, of rare old family china, out of which the 
guests sipped the fragrant herb. A large lump of loaf-sugar invariably 
accompanied each cup, on a little plate, and the delightful beverage 
was sweetened by an occasional nibble, amid the more solid articles of 
waffles and Dutch dough-nuts. The pleasant visit finished, the visitors, 
donning cloaks and hoods — as bonnets were unknown — proceeded home- 
ward in time for milking and other necessary household duties. The 
kitchen fire-places were of immense size, large enough to roast a sheep 
or whole hog ; and the hooks and trammels sustained large iron pots and 
kettles. In the spacious chimney-corners the children and negroes 
gathered — telling stories and cracking nuts by the light of the blazing 
pine knots, while the industrious vrows turned the merry spinning-wheel, 
and their lords, the worthy burghers — mayhap just returned from an 
Indian scrimmage — quietly smoked their long pipes, as they sat watching 
the wreaths curling above their heads. At length, the clock, with its 
brazen tongue, having proclaimed the hour of nine, family prayers were 
said, and all retired, to rise with the dawn. 

A model housekeeper rose at cock-crowing, breakfasted with the 
dawn, and proceeded to the duties of the day ; and when the sun reached 
the meridian or " noon mark," dinner, which was strictly a family meal, 
was on the table. This domestic time-piece answered every purpose, so 



43 

regular were the hours aud lives of the people. At one time there were 
not more than half a dozen clocks in New Amsterdam, with about the 
same number of watches. But they were strikingly peculiar in one 
respect : they were scarcely ever known to go, and hence were of very 
little practical utility. No watch-maker had yet found it profitable to 
visit the settlement ; and this was a period two centuries before the inven- 
tion of Yankee clocks. For a long while, time was marked by hour-glasses 
and sun-dials. 

We have already seen the interior of the kitchen, and will now go 
up stairs into the parlor of the early Dutch dwellings. Stoves were never 
dreamed of, but in their place was the cheerful fire-place, sometimes in 
the corner, but more generally reaching nearly across the back of the 
room, with its huge gum back-log and glowing fire of hickory. The 
shovel and tonges occupied each corner of the fire-place, keeping guard, 
as it were, over the family brass-mounted andirons which supported the 
blazing wood. Marble mantles had not yet been invented, but chim- 
ney-jambs, inlaid with party colors, imported Holland tiles, representing 
all kinds of Scriptural stories, were quite ornamental as well as instructive. 
Many a youngster has received categorical instruction from these silent, 
venerable teachers. 

In one corner of the room always stood the huge oaken iron-bound 
chest, brimful of household linen, spun by the ladies of the family, who 
delighted to display these domestic riches to their visitors. Later, this 
plain wardrobe gave place to the " eldest of drawers" one drawer placed 
upon the other, until the pile reached the ceiling, with its shining brass 
rings and key-holes. The book-case, too, with its complicated writing- 
desk, mysterious secret drawers and pigeon-holes came into use about 
the same period, though both were unknown to the early Knickerbockers. 
Side-boards were not introduced into New Amsterdam until after the 
American Revolution, and were entirely of English origin. The round 
tea-table also occupied a place in a corner of the parlor, while the large 
square dining-table stood in the kitchen for daily use. In another corner 
stood the well-known Holland cupboard, with glass doors, conspicuously 
displaying the family plate and porcelain. Little looking-glasses in nar- 
row black frames, were in common use ; two or three only of the wealth- 
iest burghers possessing larger mirrors, elaborately ornamented with 
gilding and flowers. About 1730, the sconce came in fashion — a hanging 
or projecting candlestick, with a mirror to reflect the rays. This was a 
very showy article, giving a fine light to the rooms.* After this period 

* Two of these quaint fixtures, a hundred and fifty years old, hung, until 
a year or two since, in the parlor of the Union Hall, at Saratoga Springs, N. T. 
Old visitors will readily recall them. They now adorn the parlors of Mrs. Wash- 
ington Putnam, of Saratoga Springs, the widow of the late Washington Putnam, for 
many years the genial host and owner of the " Union." 



44 

pier and mantle glasses came into fashion. Pictures, such as they were, 
abounded ; but they were for the most part poor engravings of Dutch 
cities and naval engagements. Chintz calico of inferior quality formed 
the only window curtains, without any cornices. There were no carpets 
among the early Dutch, nor any in general vise among New Yorkers 
until up to the period of the Eevolution. The famous Captain Kidd, it 
is said, owned the first modern carpet in his best room, and the pirate's 
house was the best furnished in the city. It was made of Turkey work, 
at a cost of twenty-five dollars, and resembled a large rug. The custom 
of sanding the floor of the principal room, or parlor, was universal, and 
much taste was displayed in the many fanciful devices and ' figures made 
in the sand with the brooms of the smart Dutch matrons and daughters. 
Our Holland ancestors knew nothing of lounges or sofas, or even that 
comfortable American invention, the rocking-chair. Their best chairs 
were straight and high-backed, covered with Russia leather, and elabo- 
rately ornamented with double and triple rows of brass nails. In addi- 
tion to these, the parlor was decorated with one or two chairs having 
embroidered seats and backs, the handiwork of the daughters. Some of 
the oldest families also displayed in their best rooms two chairs with 
cushions of tapestry, or velvet, trimmed with lace. About the year 1700, 
cane seats became fashionable, and thirty years after came the leather 
chairs, worth from five to ten dollars each. These led the fashion about 
thirty years more, when mahogany and black walnut chairs, with their 
crimson damask cushions, appeared. 

But the most ornamental piece of furniture in the parlor was the 
bed, with its heavy curtains and valance of camlet. No mattresses then, 
but a substantial bed of live geese feathers, with a very light one of down 
for the covering. These beds were the boast and pride of the most 
respectable Dutch matrons, and, with their well-filled chests of home- 
made linen, supplied their claims to skill in housekeeping. A check 
covering cased the beds and pillows ; the sheets were made of homespun 
linen, and over the whole was thrown a bedquilt of patchwork, wrought 
into every conceivable shape and pattern. 

The "hetste" (bedstead) was at this period a part of the house. It 
was constructed something like a cupboard, with closing doors, so that 
by day when unoccupied, the apartment could be used for a sitting- 
room. In more humble houses, the " sloap han,ck" or "bunk," was the 
sleeping place. In Dutch taverns, the good vrow or her maid opened 
the doors of the " betste" for the traveler, and, like a kind mother, bade 
him " met te rusten" — "good-night," and always, as an old friend, 
" hoo-y rees" — " good-by." To this day, in Holland, travelers meet 
similar receptions at the taverns ; and all the guests, assembling in one 
room, eat, drink, and smoke. 

Our Dutch forefathers were fond of pure, good milk — a luxury 



45 

unknown to their unfortunate descendants. It was the common practice 
for all who could afford stable room to keep their own cows, and thus 
furnish their families with milk and butter. Rip Van Dam, in 1748, 
kept two cows ; and Abraham De Peyster, one of the wealthiest mer- 
chants, owned the same number. Good pasturage, too, surrounded the 
town, no further off than the present Park. A man with a bell came 
along early in the morning for the cows, driving them through Wall to 
the city-gate, at the corner of that street and Water ; thence to the fields 
about the Collect, where the Tombs now stand ; in the evening, he brought 
them back to their owners. 

In the earlier period of New Amsterdam, the grain was made into 
flour by pestle and mortar, every family adopting this method. Coin 
then as now (1868) was exceedingly scarce ; nor was there even any paper 
currency. Hence, grain became as much the circulating medium as 
" greenbacks " are at the present day with us. From this circumstance) 
the pestle and mortar constituted the real mints of the people ; the 
pounded grain passing current for goods and labor, like bank-notes. 

The horses of those days were bred wild in the woods and pastures 
which covered the upper part of Manhattan Island. Thousands of them 
ran at large, their owners, at certain seasons, branding them with their 
names, when they were turned loose again, until winter rendered a shelter 
for them necessary. Such was their great increase, that it is said the 
Island was overrun by the animals, now become as wild and dangerous 
as the buffaloes of the prairies ; the breed was, consequently, inferior, the 
price of a horse ranging from ten dollars to forty dollars, according to 
the strength, and not the speed, of the animal. This great plenty of 
horseflesh, however, afforded ample opportunity for the fair Dutch dames 
to indulge in their favorite pastime — riding on horseback. The ladies, at 
this period, however, did not ride on horseback, alone, as is now the fashion, 
but were mounted upon a pillion, or padded cushion, placed behind 
the gentleman's saddle (or a servant's), upon whose support they depended. 
This was the common custom, as the roads were unbroken, being, in fact, 
little better than bridle-paths. Early in the eighteenth century, side- 
saddles came into partial use. The gentlemen's housings were made of 
bright- colored cloths or velvet, often trimmed with silver lace ; holsters 
were common. 

The literature of New Amsterdam was entirely different from that 
of modern times. In the place of the novels, magazines, and light read- 
ing which now fill the center-tables, there was to be found little else than 
Bibles, Testaments, and psalm-books. The matrons' church books 
were generally costly bound, with silver clasps and edgings, and some- 
times of gold. These were suspended to the girdle by silver and gold 
chains, and distinguished the style of the families using them, on the 
Sabbath days. 



46 

The Sundays in New Amsterdam were, moreover, better observed 
by its inhabitants than at the present day. All classes, arrayed in their 
best, then attended the public services of religion ; and the people, almost 
exclusively Calvinists, attended the Dutch Reformed Church. The 
" A'cwZ'," or bell-ringer and sexton, was an important personage on the 
Sabbath. He not only summoned the congregation by the sound of the 
church-going bell, but formed a procession of himself and his assistants 
to carry the cushions of the > burgomasters and schepens from the City 
Hall to the pews appropriated to these officials. At the same time, the 
Schout went his rounds, to see that quiet was kept in the streets during 
Divine worship, and also to stop the games of the negro slaves and 
Indians — to whom the Sabbath was allowed as a day of recreation, except 
during church hours. 

Small pieces of wampum were obtained by the deacons, and sold at 
great value to the heads of the Dutch families. These, having been 
distributed among the different members of families, were then taken to 
church, and deposited in the collection- bags, which were attached to long 
poles. Such was the custom a long while ; nor, in some of the interior 
Dutch settlements, has it been entirely abandoned at the present day. 
Formerly, a small bell was attached to the bottom of the bags, to remind 
the drowsy of the collection. The deacons, being thus prepared to receive 
the benefactions of the congregation, presented themselves in front of the 
pulpit, when, the Dominie having addressed a few appropriate words to 
them, they forthwith proceeded to collect the contributions. At that day, 
also, the " Koorkser, 1 ' or Clerk, occupied a little pew in front of the pulpit, 
holding in his hand a rod, on the end of which all notices were placed, 
and thus passed up to the Dominie. The moment the minister reached 
the pulpit stairs, he offered a private prayer, holding his hat before his 
face, until, having sought the aid of his Lord and Master, he ascended 
the sacred desk. 

It was, also at this time, the custom to publish from the pulpit the 
bans three times before a marriage could be solemnized. 

The Dutch Church was, at this period, within the fort at the Battery 5 
and the present Bowling Green, an open field, exhibited many country 
wagons, arranged in regular order, while their horses were allowed to 
graze on the green slopes that led down to the Hudson River. And 
here, in the old Church of St. Nicholas, for half a century, from 1642 to 
1693, the early Dutch worshipped God in His Holy Temple. 

Every house in New Amsterdam was surrounded by a garden, suf- 
ficiently large to accommodate a horse, a cow, two pigs, fowls, a patch of 
cabbages, and a tulip-bed. Indeed, the love of flowers seems to have 
been inherent to the Dutch dames. While the head of a family 
carefully watched the growth of some ancient household tree, planted in 
accordance with a universal custom in New Amsterdam directly before 



47 

the door-way, the matron might have been seen with her large calash 
over her shoulders, and her little painted basket of seeds in her hand, 
going to the labors of the garden. Nor is this figurative. It was the 
universal custom for a Dutch lady in independent circumstances, gentle 
of form and manner, to sow, plant, and cultivate. These fair gardeners 
were also good florists. Where has there ever been found choicer 
hyacinths and tulips than among the Hollanders? Indeed, all New 
Yorkers may well feel proud of their great-great-great Holland grand- 
mothers. They were fair and unblemished religious dames, with great 
grasp of mind and of exemplary industry. The important task of religious 
instruction chiefly devolved upon them ; and the essentials, especially the 
ceremonials of piety, were instilled upon the minds of their children. 
Hence mothers among the early Dutch were always regarded with 
peculiar reverence. 

The Dutch ladies wore no bonnets, as is still the fashion with some 
of the German emigrants who now arrive at Castle Garden. At New 
Amsterdam the fashionable dress was a colored petticoat, rather short (for 
ease in walking), waist jacket, colored hose of homespun woolen, and 
high-heeled shoes, suitable to a city destitute of pavements or sidewalks 
of any kind. The Dutch burghers wore long-waisted coats, with skirts 
reaching almost to their ankles, and adorned with large silver buttons 
The wardrobe of a prominent burgomaster at the transfer of New 
Amsterdam to the British, was as follows : A cloth coat, with silver 
buttons, worth fifteen dollars ; a stuff coat, ten dollars ; cloth breeches, 
ten shillings ; a cloth coat, with gimp buttons, seven dollars and fifty 
cents ; a black cloth coat, seven dollars ; a black velvet coat, fifteen 
dollars ; a silk coat, breeches, and doublet, six dollars ; a silver cloth 
breeches and doublet, five dollars ; a velvet waistcoat, with silver lace, 
five dollars ; a buff coat and silk sleeves, five dollars ; three grass-green 
cloaks, six dollars each ; besides several old suits. To these, also, must 
be added linen, hose, shoes with silver buckles, a cane with an ivory 
head, and a hat. It may be doubted if Mayor Hoffman, with all his 
cloths and cassimers, can " begin " to "turn out" such an assortment of 
coats, pants, and vests, as this official Dutchman, his predecessor, in "ye 
olden time." * 

In the good old Dutch times respectable tradesmen worked hard ; 
none were drones or mere lookers-on. There existed but little competi- 
tion among tradesmen, as with us. No tempting display of goods in 
show-windows attracted the attention and excited the desire of passers- 

* A little later, in 1690, we find among a fashionable gentleman's apparel, green 
silk breeches, flued with silver and gold ; silver gauze-breeches, scarlet and blue 
silk stockings, laced shirt, a blue cloth stuff and frieze coat, a gun and a pair of 
pistols, a silver-hilted sword, a silver spoon and fork, a lacku hat, a campaign, shut- 
bob, old-bob wigs, and periwigs. 



48 

by to go beyond their means. Content to sell their goods at a fair profit, 
they secured both good customers and a reputation for probity and fair 
dealing. It was the English who first introduced display, fashion, and 
extravagance. It was they who first introduced the custom of keeping 
the shops open at night — a needless and expensive fashion, and greatly 
injurious to the health and morals of the clerks. In these early days, 
however, the diligent closed their stores and shops at an early hour. All 
classes went on foot, for carriages and wheeled vehicles were very scarce. 
Even physicians paid all their visits on foot ; and in another respect they 
differ widely from the doctors of the present day — their charges were 
very moderate. 

At funerals, it was the custom to give hot wine in winter, and wine- 
sangaree in summer. Ladies generally attended on such mournful occa- 
sions, especially if the deceased was a female, when burnt wine was 
served in silver tankards. At a later era, on the death of Mrs. Daniel 
Phoenix, the wife of the City Treasurer, all the pall-bearers were ladies. 

The workingman always wore his leather-apron, no matter what 
his employment. Tradesmen were accustomed to saw their own wood ; 
and a most healthful exercise it was. Nor did any man in middle cir- 
cumstances fear to carry home his '' one hundred weight " of meal from 
market. On the contrary, it would have been considered a disgrace to 
have avoided such a burden. 

A greater change, however, in the habits of the people, cannot be 
named than in that of hired servants or " help." The female servants 
formerly wore short gowns of green baize, with petticoats of linsey- 
woolsey, receiving only half a dollar a week for their wages. Now, they 
demand from eight to fourteen dollars a month, and dress like fashion- 
able ladies, displaying all their pride and show. 

In these primitive days, also, when a man " set up business," he 
invariably took down his own shutters, opened the door, swept the store, 
and dusted the goods himself by the gray dawn. Then men grew rich 
by early rising, economy, and industry, and by attending to their own 
business themselves, and not leaving their interests in the charge of boys, 
agents, or clerks. The only capital of most young men then was industry 
and punctuality ; and labor and honesty were as fashionable at this early 
day as stylish young men, defaulting cashiers, fast living, and fast horses 
are now. Neither would any sensible matron permit her daughter to 
encourage the attentions of any young man who was not his own servant. 

Shortly before the cession of New Amsterdam to the British rule, 
the settlement was celebrated for its number of young people, as the 
children of the early emigrants had then reached adult age. Several 
daughters of the wealthy burghers were married to young Englishmen 
whose visits were only of a temporary character. Many romantic rural 
spots, everywhere surrounding the settlements at New Netherland, were 



49 

naturally favorable to the important business of courtship, and there 
were several places of pleasant resort famed for this business, even at 
that early day. The Locust- Trees was one, upon a bluff on the shore of 
the North River, a little back of the present Trinity Church-yard. From 
this commanding and shady eminence, the eye could wander over an 
extensive vista of river, bay, islands, and the bold, distant hills of New 
Jersey. Here, too, was the West India Company's beautiful garden, on 
the site of the present Trinity Church, with its rich flowers and vegetable 
productions. A little beyond the town was Maiden's Valley, now Maiden 
Lane, a rural, shady walk, with a charming little rivulet meandering 
through it. The original name of this rustic walk was T'Maagde Paatje, 
or the " Maiden's Path." South of this lane stretched the Clover Waytie, 
or " Pasture Field ;" and from the present Gold street, hidden in the 
foliage, a little stream, fed by a living spring, came tumbling down the 
rocks. From John, near Gold, a longer walk led to the enchanting lake- 
let, the Kolch, or Collect, nestling within a circle of forest hills. Like 
many such ponds in the vicinity of old villages, this, traditionally, had no 
bottom, and was said to be haunted by the spirits of some old native 
sachems, the paddles of whose canoes could be heard at night, though 
nothing was seen visibly to disturb the crystal waters. All these spots 
were famous trysting-places of the youthful New Netherlanders. But 
how changed the scene ! Where those sparkling and beautiful waters 
once flowed, and the morning carols of the birds were heard, the dark, 
sorrowful, and sinful abodes of the " Five Points" now stand in close 
proximity to the gloomy prison-cells of the " Tombs." 

But although New York City, two hundred years ago, passed over 
to British rule, still the inhabitants remained Dutch in their manners, 
costumes, modes of thought, and religious ideas, for many subsequent 
years. Sleighing was a fashionable amusement ; and a ride to Harlem 
became the longest drive among the " city folk." Parties, however, often 
turned aside tojvisit " Hell Gate," influenced, doubtless, by the fact that 
on this road, over the Tamkill (a little stream emptying into the East 
River, opposite Blackwell's Island), was the " Kissing Bridge,''' 1 so laid 
down on the old maps, and named from the old Dutch custom of the 
gentlemen saluting their lady companions whenever they crossed the 
bridge. That was the day also of the " cocked hats " and " cues," 
which stuck out from behind the head "stiff as a poker." The most 
fashionable gentleman made his appearance before the fair one who 
was to be his companion in the ride, in a large camlet cloak with a very 
large cape, snuff-colored coat and small clothes, and stockings drawn over 
the shoes to keep out the snow. In addition, a woolen tippet warmly 
protected his neck, and domestic-knit mittens his hands. People then 
showed their good sense by dressing according to the weather. 

An old chronicle tell us that an Ethiopian, named Caesar, had great 
4 



50 

fame as a driver, fiddler, and waiter. The ladies, once upon a time, 
appeared in linsey-woolsey cardinals, with hoods of immense size ; and 
at noon away went the party in high glee, to the jingle of sleigh-bells, to 
take a dish of tea and a dance at Harlem. Eeaching there, Caesar tuned 
his three- stringed fiddle ; and the gentlemen appeared in their snare-toed 
shoes, and the ladies in peak-toed, high-heeled slippers. Dancing and 
skipping the " light, fantastic toe " immediately begun, and continued 
until eight o'clock in the evening, when they again hastened back to the 
city ; for "to be out" after nine, on common occasions, was considered a cer- 
tain sign of bad morals. 

To sum up, the earliest Dutch emigrants to New York left their deep- 
impress upon the city and upon the State. Far-reaching commerce, 
which immortalized Old Amsterdam in the seventeenth century, soon 
provoked the envy of New Amsterdam's neighbors, and in the end made 
our city the emporium of the Western World. Our ancestors left chil- 
dren and children's children, who were well fitted to act important parts 
in the great work of opening the American continent to European and 
Christian civilization. They brought with them honest maxims, industry, 
and the liberal ideas of their Fatherland — their schoolmasters, their 
dominies, and their Bibles. In the course of events, however, New 
Netherland passed over to British rule, when new customs, new relation- 
ships, and new habits of thought, were introduced.* 



* It may be amusing to many of the present generation, so little accustomed to 
the old Dutch names, to read some titles once very familiar in New Amsterdam and 
New York, but now so seldom thought of or understood : 

Be Ilerr — Officer ; or Hoofd-Schout, High-Sheriff. 

De Fiscott — Attorney-General. 

Grout Bingenecht, and Klein Bingenecht, the great and small citizenship, early 
marking the two orders of society. 

The Schout (Sheriff), Burgomeesters, and Sehepens, then ruled the city, " as in 
all cities of the Fatherland." 

Geheim ScJiuyner — Recorder of Secrets. 

Wees-Meesters — Guardians of Orphans. 

Roy-Meester — Regulator of Fences. 

Eyck-Meester—The Weigh-Master. 

The word Bos still in use, a century ago was written Baas, and literally means 
"master" — not a very popular name for Democrats to use, though. they all greatly 
desire to become a Bos. 



SECOND PERIOD. 

1674-1783. 

From the English Conquest to the Revolutionary War and the Termination of 

British Rule. 



Before entering upon the history of this period, it seems desirable 
to take a ramble about the limits of New Amsterdam and see for our- 
selves how it appeared at the time that the Dutch surrendered it to the 
English. In our walk we will take as our guide a map of the " Towne 
of Wambados, or\New Amsterdam, as it was in September, 1661," a copy of 
which now lies before us. This is, so far as known, the only plan of the 
city executed in the early Dutch times, and was found a few years since 
in the British Museum. 

The town wind-mill stood on a bluff, within our present Battery, 
opposite Greenwich street. On Water, between Whitehall and Moore 
streets, was the " Government House, " built, by Stuyvesant, of stone, and 
the best edifice in the town. . When Governor Dongan became its 
owner he changed its name from the " Government House " to " White- 
hall," and hence the name of the street. It was surrounded by a large 
inclosure, one side of which, with the garden, was washed by the river. 
A little dock for pleasure-boats ran into the stream at this point. Here, 
also, was located the Governor's house, between which, and the canal in 
Broad street, was the present Pearl street, then the great center of trade — 
known as the " Water-side," and sometimes as the " Strand/' Near the 
Governor's house was the " Way-House," or Weigh-House, at the head 
of the public wharf at the foot of the present Moore street. A very short 
distance off, and parallel with Pearl, ran the Burgh Straat (the present 
Bridge street), so named from the fact of its leading to the bridge across 
the canal in Broad. There was a small passage-way running through 
this block and along the side of the " Old Church," for convenient 
access to a row of houses, laid down on the map. These, live in num- 
ber, belonged to the Company, and were built of stone. In front of 
fhem was a beautiful sloping green. The canal in Broad street was, in 
truth, but a narrow stream, running toward Wall street for a quarter of 
a mile. Both sides were dyked with posts, in the fashion of Fatherland, 



52 

at the distance of twelve feet from the houses. On each side, as houses 
line a canal in Holland, stood a row of buildings in the ultra Dutch style, 
low, high-peaked, and very neat, with their gables toward the street. 
Each had its stoop, a vane or weather-cock, and its dormer-window. 
From the roof of one, a little iron crane projected, with a small boat at 
its end, as a sign of this being the " Ferry-House." The landing was at 
the head of the canal, in Broad street, at the point where Garden united 
with it. This canal or little stream originally went up to " Yerlettenberg 
Hill 1 ' (Exchange Place), afterward corrupted into " Flottenbanck." This 
was the head of tide-water ; and here the country people from Brooklyn, 
Gowanus, and Bergen brought their marketing to the center of the city. 
Many of the market-boats were rowed by stout women, without hats or 
bonnets, but wearing in their place close caps. There were generally two 
rowers to each craft. 

Further along the East River or " Water-side " a building of con- 
siderable pretension appeared — the Stadt Iluys or City Hall, first erected 
as a tavern, but afterward taken by the municipal government. In 
front of the Stadt Iluys was placed a battery of three guns. Proceeding 
along the river-shore we pass Hanover Square, where two boats are lying, 
and approach the " City Gate," at the foot of Wall street, sometimes 
called the "Water Gate," to distinguish it from the "Land Gate" at 
that end of the road on the Sheera Straat (Broadway). The Water Gate 
seems to have been quite an imposing structure, doubtless because Pearl 
street was the great thoroughfare and main entrance to the town. Most 
of the strangers or visitors to New Amsterdam came from Long Island. 

Continuing our walk toward Long Island Ferry, or "Passage-Place," 
and passing by Maiden Lane, we come to another public way, leading 
to "Shoemakers' Land" and " Yandercliff's Orchard," both places of 
noted resort. This was the present John street, from Pearl to Cliff. 

At a very early day the tanneries in Broad street were declared a 
nuisance, and their owners ordered to remove beyond the city limits. 
This they did, and established themselves along Maiden Lane, then a 
marshy valley. Four of the number, shoemakers by trade, purchased a 
tract of land bounded by Broadway, Ann, William, and Gold streets, and 
here commenced their business. This region was thenceforth known as 
the Shoemakers 1 LinuL a name which it retained so late as 1696, when it 
was divided into town-lots. The tanners were next driven from this 
locality into what is even now known as the " Swamp." The Vander cliffs 
Orchard was bounded by the East River, Shoemakers' Land, and Maiden 
Lane. Its original owner was Hendrick Ryker, who sold it in 1680 
to Dirck Vandercliff. Luring the Revolution this tract received the 
more pleasant-sounding name of Golden Hill, so named, it is said, from 
the fine wheat grown on it. Cliff street yet preserves a part of the old 
title. Proceeding past Golden Hill we come to a large edifice, close to 



53 

the present site of Fulton Market, and marked on the map as 
" Alderton's Buildings," surrounded by a fence. This is supposed to be 
the store-house of Isaac Allerton, who resided at New Amsterdam and 
carried on an extensive trade with the New England colonies. He was 
one of the emigrants in the May Flower, and a notable character in our 
early history. His business was the importation of tobacco from Virginia, 
and this edifice was probably his great tobacco depot. 

Continuing our tour we reach the " Passage-Place," the present 
Peck Slip, known for a long time as the " Old Perry.'' This was the 
earliest Brooklyn ferry, the city authorities in 1654 regulating its rates 
at three stivers for foot-passengers, except Indians, who paid six, unless 
there were two or more. Here Cornells Dircksen, the ferryman, who 
owned a farm near by, at the sound of a horn hanging on the tree from 
the passengers, ferried them over in his little skiff. Still further on 
there was a little stream, on the bank of which stood a water-mill. This 
brook ran into Walphafs Meadow, which covered the present Roosevelt- 
street and vicinity. This stream, known as " Old Wreck Brook," ran 
from the meadow into the Kolch (Collect), a bridge crossing it on the 
highway in Chatham near Pearl. 

The " Commons" (the present Park) was a well-known spot in early 
New York. Through it passed the post-road to Boston, the present 
Chatham street, and for many years this was the place for public execu- 
tions. North of the Commons, or the VlacUe (the " Plat 1 '), lay the Fresh- 
Water Pond (to which allusion has already been made) with its neighboring 
district Kolch Hook, or Collect, below the Commons.* Near the Collect 
rose Potter's Hill. At its foot followed the " Owl's Kill," leading the 
waters of that pond through the marshes of " Wolfert's Valley" to the 
East River. Toward the river was the Swamp, the present Ferry street 
and neighborhood, a low marshy place, covered with bushes and briars. f 

* As the city gradually extended its limits, the powder-house, at first built on 
the Commons, was considered unsafe, and a new magazine was built in 1728 upon 
a secluded little island in the Fresh- Water Pond. Not far from this place, in the 
course of the following year, Noe Willey, of London, gave to his three sons in New 
York the ground for a Jewish cemetery. It was bounded by Chatham, Catherine, 
and Oliver streets, and was to be held forever as a burial-place for the Israelites. 
But the wishes of the old Hebrew have been violated long since, for Chatham street 
now runs through the sacred enclosure, and Mammon has erected a bank and stores 
upon the spot. Some tomb-stones, however, still stand, like grim sentinels, to keep 
guard over this once hallowed and venerable grave-yard. 

f In 1744, this tract was sold for £200 to Jacobus Roosevelt, who divided it 
into fifty lots and established on them several tanneries. This indicated its future 
destiny, and ever since it has been the center of the large leather trade of the city. 
More immense fortunes have been made about that region than any other of the 
same extent in the city. It was originally called Beekman's Swamp, and leased to 
Rip Van Dam, a member of the Council, for twenty-one years, at a yearly rent of 
twenty shillings. 



54 

The city wall, called the " lingel" or ramparts, was a row of pali- 
sades, with embankments nine feet high and four wide, on which several 
cannon were mounted on bastions. Two large stone points were after- 
ward added — one on the corner of Broadway and Wall, called "Ilollandia" 
and the other on the northwest corner of Wall and William, known as 
" Zealiuiih'n." These completely commanded the whole front of the city 
wall. 

Retracing our steps into town, we have now leisure to examine more 
carefullv the canal, which is laid down as running through the entire 
leno-th of Broad street. Thirty years later this canal was filled up. 
It had a little branch running toward the west through Beaver street. 
The Steeregraft, or main canal, appears to have been crossed by two prin- 
cipal bridges, one at Bridge and the other at Stone street, with smaller 
ones, evidently designed for foot-passengers. Near Beaver street, small 
boats or canoes lie moored in the canal. 

Pearl street then, and for many years afterward, formed the river 
bank. Water and South streets have both been reclaimed from the 
water.* On the west side of Broadway, above the grave-yard, at the 
present Morris street, were the country-seats of Messrs. Yandergrist and 
Yan Dyck. On Whitehall street stood the parsonage of the Dutch 
Dominie, with its garden of beautiful tulips and hyacinths, and its paths 
of cedar and clipped box. Close at hand stood the bakery, brewery, and 
warehouse of the Company. In William, near Pearl, was the old horse- 
mill, erected, it will be remembered, by Director Minuit, and which did 
good service until superseded by the three wind -mills of Yan Twiller. 
One of these stood on State street, and was the most prominent object 
seen in approaching the city from the bay. The old fort itself was 
bounded by Bridge, Whitehall, and State streets, and the Bowling Green. 

Two main roads led from the fort at the Battery toward the northern 
part of the Island. One of these, afterward the " Boston, or the old Post 
Road," followed Broadway to the Park, and then extended through 
Chatham. Duane. William, and Pearl streets to the Bowery. t Along the 
Bowery road lay " Steenwyck's" and " HeermanV orchards, with the 
well-known Stuyvesant's " Bowerie" (farm), whence the name. Near the 
last, and in the neighborhood of Gramniercy Park, came " Crummashie 
Hill," while beyond were the " Zantberg" hills, with " Minetta" brook, 
which found its way through a marshy valley into the North River. Still 
further toward the north, near Thirty-sixth street and Fourth avenue, 

* One of the last relics of these early days still (18(38) stands on the corner of 
Peck Slip and Water street, and is well worth a visit. At the time of its erection 
the river flowed alongside of it. 

f In the year 169G the first hackney-coach was introduced upon the Bowery 
road. Previous to this time, with the exception of the Governor's, private coaches 
were unknown. 



55 

rose the " Incleberg 1 ' 1 or -'Beacon Hill," the Murray Hill of later times. 
From this latter point there was a commanding view of the whole Island. 
The other main road also started from the fort, and passing through 
Stone street to Hanover Square, led along the East Elver to the Brooklyn 
ferry. 

Thus much for the outward appearance of New York at this time. 
In regard to its manners and interior life we are enabled — thanks to 
the late researches of the Hon. Henry C. Murphy, the Foreign Corre- 
sponding Secretary of the Brooklyn Historical Society — to speak even 
more definitely. Toward the middle of the seventeenth century a pecu- 
liar religious sect existed in Westphalia. They were known as Labadists, 
and professed a kind of mysticism, holding, nevertheless, to the tenets of 
the Dutch Reformed Church. In the summer of 1679 two of their num- 
ber were sent over to America, with the view of ascertaining the nature 
of the country and government, and selecting a suitable place for the 
establishment of a colony of the religious community to which they 
belonged. The journal which they kept during their stay in America is 
of great interest, particularly that portion having reference to their visit 
to New York ; for, aside from the quaintness and originality of the nar- 
rative, it is of peculiar value, as giving an inside view of the people of 
New Amsterdam at this time. As there were but a very small number 
of copies printed, and the circulation is therefore extremely limited, we 
shall take the liberty of quoting somewhat extensively from the work 
itself* 

" Having then fortunately arrived, by the blessing of the Lord, before the City 
of New York, on Saturday, the 23d day of September, we stepped ashore about four 
o'clock in the afternoon, in company with Gerrit, our fellow-passenger, who would 
conduct us, in this strange place. He had lived here a long time, and had married 
his wife here, although she aiid his children were living at present at Zwolle. "We 
went along with him, but as he met many of his old acquaintances on the way, we 
were constantly stopped. He first took us to the house of one of his friends, who 
welcomed him and us, and offered us some of the fruit of the country, very fine 
peaches and full-grown apples, which filled our hearts with thankfulness to God. 
This fruit was exceedingly fair and good, and pleasant to the taste ; much better 
than that in Holland or elsewhere, though I believe our long fasting and craving of 
food made it so agreeable. After taking a glass of Madeira, we proceeded on to 
Gerrit's father-in-law's, a very old man, half lame, and unable either to walk or stand 
who fell upon the neck of his son-in-law, welcoming him with tears of joy. The 
old woman was also very glad. This good man was born in Vlissingen, and was 
named Jacob Swart. He had been formerly a master-carpenter at Amsterdam, but 
had lived in this country upwards of forty-five years. After we had been here a 
little while, we left our traveling-bag, and went out to take a walk in the fields. It 
was strange to us to feel such stability under us, although it seemed as if the earth 
itself moved under our feet like the ship had done for three months past, and our 



* This journal was found in manuscript, a few years since, in Holland, by Mr. 
Murphy, who, perceiving its value, presented it a few months ago to the Brooklyn 
Historical Society, by whom a few copies were printed for the members in 1807. 



56 

body also still swayed after the manner of the rolling of the sea ; but this sensation 
gradually passed off in the course of a few days. As we walked along we saw in 
different gardens trees full of apples of various kinds, and so laden with peaches and 
other fruit that one might doubt whether there were more leaves or fruit on them. 
I have never seen in Europe, in the best seasons, such an overflowing abundance. 
When we had finished our tour and given our guide several letters to deliver, we 
returned to his father-in-law's, who regaled us in the evening with milk, which 
refreshed lis much. We had so many peaches set before us that we were timid 
about eating them, though we experienced no ill effects from them. We remained 
there to sleep, which was the first time in nine or ten weeks that we had lain down 
upon a bed undressed, and able to yield ourselves to sleep without apprehension of 
danger. 

" 24th, Sunday. We rested well through the night. I was surprised on waking 
up to find my comrade had already dressed himself and breakfasted upon peaches. 
We walked out awhile in the fine, pure morning air, along the margin of the clear 
running water of the sea, which is driven up this river at every tide. As it wa& 
Sunday, in order to avoid scandal and for other reasons, we did not wish to absent 
ourselves from church. We therefore went, and found there truly a wild, worldly 
world. I say wild, not only because the people are wild, as they call it in Europe, 
but because most all the people who go there to live, or who are born there, partake 
somewhat of the nature of the country, that is, peculiar to the land where they live. 
We heard a minister preach who had come from the up-river country, from Fort 
Orange, where his residence is, an old man named Dominie Schaats, of Amste rdam." * * 
* * " This Schaats then preached. He had a defect in the left eye and used such 
strange gestures and language that I think I never in all my life heard anything 
more miserable ; indeed, I can compare him with no one better than with one Do. 
Van Ecke, lately the minister at Armuyden, in Zeelandj more in life, conversation, 
and gestures than in person. As it is not strange in these countries to have men as 
ministers who drink, we could imagine nothing else than that he had been drinking 
a little this morning. His text was, Come unto me all ye, &c, but he was so rough 
that even the roughest and most godless of our sailors were astonished. 

" The clmrch being in the fort we had an opportunity to look through the latter, 
as we had come too early for preaching. It is not large ; it has four points or batter- 
ies ; it has no moat outside but is inclosed with a double row of palisades. It is built 
from the foundation with quarry stone. The parapet is of earth. It is well pro- 
vided with cannon, for the most part of iron, though there were some small brass 
pieces, all bearing the mark or arms of the Netherlanders. The garrison is small. 
There is a well of fine water dug in the fort by the English, contrary to the 
opinion of the Dutch, who supposed the fort was built upon rock, and had, there- 
fore, never attempted any such thing. There is, indeed, some indication of 
stone there, for along the edge of the water below the fort there is a very large 
rock extending apparently under the fort, which is built upon the point formed by 
the two rivers, namely, the East river, which is the water running between the 
Mahattans and Long Island, and the North river, which runs straight up to Fort 
Orange. In front of the fort, on the Long Island side, there is a small island, called 
Noten island (Nut island), around the point of which vessels must go in sailing out 
or in, whereby they are compelled to pass close by the point of the fort, where they 
can be flanked by several of the batteries. It has only one gate, and that is on the 
land side, opening upon a broad plane or street, called the Broadway or Beaver way. 
Over this gate are the arms of the Duke of York. During the time of the Dutch 
there were two gates, namely, another on the water side ; but the English have 
closed it and made a battery there, with a false gate. In front of the church is 



57 

inscribed the name of Governor Kyft, who caused the same to be built in the year 
1642. It has a shingled roof, and upon the gable towards the water there is a small 
wooden tower with a bell in it but no clock. There is a sun-dial on three sides. 
The front of the fort stretches east and west, and consequently the sides run north 
and south. 

" After we had returned to the house and dined, my companion, not wishing to 
go to church, sat about writing letters, as there was a ship, of which Andre Bon 
was master, about to leave in a few days for London ; but in order we should not be 
both absent from church, and as the usual minister was to preach in the afternoon, I 
went alone to hear him. He was a thick, corpulent person, with a i-ed and bloated 
face, and of very slabbering speech.* His text was ' the elders who serve well,' &c, 
because the elders and deacons were that day renewed, and I saw them admitted. 
After preaching, the good old people with whom we lodged, who, indeed, if they 
were not the best on all the Manathans, were at least among the best, especially the 
wife, begged we would go with their son Gerrit, to one of their daughters, who 
lived in a delightful place, and kept a tavern, where we would be able to taste the 
beer of New Netherland, inasmuch as it was also a brewery. Some of their friends 
passing by requested Gerrit and us to accompany them, and so we went for the pur- 
pose of seeing what was to be seen ; but when we arrived there, we found ourselves 
much deceived. On account of its being to some extent a pleasant spot it was 
resorted on Sundays by all sorts of revelers, and was a low pot-house. Our com- 
pany immediately found acquaintances there and joined them, but it being repug- 
nant to our feelings to be there, we walked into the orchard to seek pleasure in con- 
templating the innocent objects of nature. Among other trees we observed a mul- 
berry-tree, the leaves of which were as large as a plate. The wife showed us pears 
larger than the fist, picked from a three years' graft which had borne forty of them. 
A great storm of rain coming up in the evening compelled us to go into the house, 
where we did not remain long with the others, but took our leave of them against 
their wishes. "We retraced our steps in the dark, exploring a way over which we 
had gone only once in our life, through a vuley (salt meadow) and over water upon 
the trunk of a tree. We nevertheless reached home, having left the others in their 
revels. While in their company we conversed with the first male born of Euro- 
peans in New Netherland, named Jean Vigne. His parents were from Valen- 
ciennes and he was now about sixty-five years of age. He was a brewer and a 
neighbor of our old people." 
####**■***** 

" 25th Monday. We went on board the ship this morning in order to obtain 
our traveling bag and clothes for the purpose of having them washed, but when we 
came on board we could not get ashore again before the afternoon, when the passen- 
gers' goods were to be delivered. All our goods which were between decks were 
taken ashore and carried to the public storehouse, where they had" to be examined, 
but some time elapsed before it was done, in consequence of the examiners being 
elsewhere. At length, however, one Abraham Lennoy, a good fellow apparently, 
befriended us. He examined our chest only, without touching our bedding or any 
thing else. I showed him a list of the tin which we had in the upper part of our 
chest, and he examined it and also the tin, and turned up a little more what was in 
the chest and with that left off, without looking at it closely. He demanded 
four English shillings for the tin, remarking at the same time that he had observed 
some other small articles, but would not examine them closely, though he had not 
seen either the box or the pieces of linen. This being finished we sent our goods in 

* The minister here referred to was the Rev. William Nieuenhuisen. 



58 

a cart to our lodgings, paying for the two heavy chests and straw beds and other 
o-oods from the public store-house to the Smit'svaley, sixteen stivers of zeawan, equal 
to three stivers and a half in the money of Holland. This finished the day and we 

retired to rest. 

"26th, Tuesday. We remained at home for the purpose of writing, but in the 
afternoon, finding that many goods had been di- charged from the ship, we went to 
look after our little package, which also came. I declared it and it was examined. 
I had to pay twenty-four guilders in zeawan or five guilders in the coin of Holland. 
I brought it to the house and looked the things all over, rejoicing that we were 
finally rid of that miserable set and the ship, the freight only remaining to be paid, 
which was fixed at four guilders in coin. We went first to Margaret in relation to 
the freight, who said she had nothing more to do with it, and that we must speak 
to her husband about it, which it was not convenient to do that evening, and we 
therefore let it go, waiting for an opportunity to speak to her and her husband with 
the captain, and perhaps also Mr. Jan. 

* ****** 

" As soon as we had dined we sent off our letters, and this being all accom- 
plished we started at two o'clock for Long Island. This island is called Long 
Island, not so much because it is longer than it is broad, but particularly because it 
is the Longest island in this region, or even along the whole coast of New Nether- 
land, Virginia and New England. It is one hundred and forty-four miles in length 
and from twenty-four to twenty-eight miles wide, though there are several bays and 
points along it, and consequently it is much broader in some places than others, 
On the west is Staten Island, from which it is separated about a mile, and the great 
bay over which you see the Nevesincke. With Staten Island it makes the passage 
through which all vessels pass in sailing from or to the Mahatans, although they can 
o-o through the Kit Van Kol, which is on the other side of Staten Island. The ends 
of these islands opposite each other are quite high land, and they are therefore 
called the Hoof den (Headlands), from a comparison with the Hoofdenof the channel 
between England and France in Europe. On the north is the island of Mahatans 
and a part of the mainland. On the east is the sea, which shoots up to New 
England, and in which there are various islands. On the south is the great ocean. 
The outer shore of this island has before it several small islands and broken land, 
such as Coney Island,* a low, sandy island of about three hours' circuit, its westerly 
point forming with Sandy Hook on the other side the entrance from the sea. It is 
oblong in shape, and is grown over with bushes. Nobody lives upon it, but it is 
used in winter for keeping cattle, horses, oxen, hogs and others, which are able to 
obtain there sufficient to eat the whole winter, and to shelter themselves from the 
cold in the thickets. This island is not so cold as Long Island or the Mahatans, or 
others, like some islands on the coast, in consequence of their having more sea breeze, 
and of the saltness of the sea breaking upon the shoals, rocks and reefs with which 
the coast is beset. There is also the Bear's Islandf and others, separated from Long 
Island by creeks and marshes overflown at high water. There are also on this sea 
coast various miry places like the Vlaeckt. and others, as well as some sand bays and 
hard and rocky shores. Long Island stretches into the sea for the most part east by 
south and east-southeast. None of its land is very high, for you must be nearly 
opposite Sandy Hook before you can see it. There is a hill or ridge running length- 

* '( Conijnen Eylant, Rabbit's island. 

t '£ Beeren Eylant. Now called Barren Island. 

1 The "Wieringen shoals in the Zuyder Zee are probably meant. 



59 

wise through the island, nearest the north side and west end of the island. 
The south side and east end are more flat. The water by which it is 
separated from the Mahatans, is improperly called the East River, for it 
is nothing else than an arm of the sea, beginning in the bay on the west and ending 
in the sea on the east. After forming in this passage several islands, this water is 
as broad before the city as the Y before Amsterdam, but £he ebb and flood tides are 
stronger. There is a ferry for the purpose of crossing over it which is farmed out 
by the year and yields a good income, as it is a considerable thoroughfare, this island 
being one of the most populous places in this vicinity. A considerable number of 
Indians live upon it, who gain their subsistence by hunting and fishing, and they, 
as well as others, must carry their articles to market over this ferry or boat them 
over, as it is free to every one to use his own boat, if he have one, or to borrow or 
hire one for the purpose. The fare over the ferry is three stivers* in zeawan for 
each person. 

Here we three crossed over, my comrade G-errit, our guide and myself, in a row- 
boat, as it happened, which, in good weather and tide, carries a sail. When we 
came over we found there Jan Teunissen, our fellow-passenger, who had promised 
us so much good. He was going over to the city to deliver his letters and transact 
other business. He told us he would return home in the evening and we would 
find him there. We went on up the hill along open roads and a little woods, through 
the first village, called Breukelen, which has a sm ill and ugly little church standing 
in the middle of the road.f Having passed through here, we struck off to the right 
in order to go to Gouanes. We went upon several plantations where Gerrit was 
acquainted with most all of the people, who made us very welcome, sharing with us 
bountifully whatever they had, whether it was milk, cider, fruit, or tobacco, and 
especially and first and most of all, miserable rum or brandy which had been brought 
from Barbadoes and other islands, and which is called by the Dutch kill-devil. All 
these people are very fond of it, and most of them extravagantly so, although it is 
very dear and has a bad taste. It is impossible to tell how many peach-trees we 
passed all laden with fruit to breaking down, and many of them actually broken 
down. We came to a place surrounded with such trees from which so many had 
fallen off that the ground could not be discerned, and you could not put your foot 
down without trampling them, and notwithstanding such large quantities had fallen 
off, the trees still were as full as they could bear. The hogs and other animals 
mostly feed on them. This place belongs to the oldest European woman in the 
cotxntry. We went immediately into her house where she lived with her children. 
We found her sitting by the fire smoking tobacco incessantly, one pipe after another. 
We inquired after her age, which the children told us was a hundred years. She 
was from Luyck (Liege), and still spoke good Waalsche (old French) with us. She 
could reason very well sometimes, and at other times she could not. She showed us 
several large apples as good fruit of that country and different from that of Europe. 
She had been about fifty years now in the country and had above seventy children 

* Less than half a cent in our money. 

t Breukelen, now Brooklyn, was so called from the village of that name in the province of 
Utrecht. The church here referred to was built in 1666, and was the first one in Brooklyn. When it 
wis taken down does not appear. " A second church," says Funnan, in his Notes relating to Brooklyn, 
76, " was erected on the site of that built in 1666, which second church continued standing- until about 
1810, when a new and substantial church was erected on Joralemon street, and the old one taken 
down. This old church was a very gloomy-looking building with small windows, and stood in the 
middle of the highway about a mile from Brooklyn ferry." Of this second church a view is given in 
the Brooklyn Manual of 1863. 



60 

and grandchildren. She saw the third generation after her. Her mother had attended 
women in childbed in her one hundred and sixth year, and was one hundred and eleven 
or twelve years old when she died. "We tasted here for the first time, smoked twaelft* 
(twelfth), a fish so called hecause it is caught in season next after the elft\ (eleventh). 
It was salted a little and then smoked, and although it was now a year old, it was 
still perfectly good and in flavor not inferior to smoked salmon. We drank here, 
also, the first new cider, which was very fine. 

" "We proceeded on to Gouanes, a place so called, where we arrived in the even- 
ing at one of the best friends of Gerrit, named Symon. He was very glad to see 
us, and so was his wife. He took us into the house, and entertained us exceedingly 
well. We found a good fire, half-way up the chimney, of clear oak and hickory, of 
which they made not the least scruple of burning profusely. "We let it penetrate us 
thoroughly. There had been already thrown upon it, to be roasted, a pail-full 
of Gouanes oysters, which are the best in the country. They are fully as good as 
those of England, and better than those we eat at Falmouth. I had to try some 'of 
them raw. They are large and full, some of them not less than a foot long, and 
they grow sometimes ten, twelve, and sixteen together, and are then like a piece of 
rock. Others are young and small. In consequence of the great quantities of them» 
everybody keeps the shells for the purpose of burning them into lime. They pickle 
the oysters in small casks, and send them to Barbadoes and the other islands. We 
had for supper a roasted haunch of venison, which he had bought of the Indians for 
three guilders and a half of seewant, that is, fifteen stuivers of Dutch money (fifteen 
cents), and which weighed thirty pounds. The meal was exceedingly tender and 
good, and also quite fat. It had a slight spicy flavor. We were also served with 
wild turkey, which was also fat and of a good flavor; and a wild goose, but that 
was rather dry. Every thing we had was the natural production of the country. 
We saw here, lying in a heap, a whole hill of watermelons, which were as large as 
pumpkins, and which Symon was going to take to the city to sell. They were very 
I'ood, though there is a difference between them and those of the Caribly islands ; 
but this may be owing to its being late in the season, as these were the last pulling. 
It was very late at night when we went to rest in a Kermis bed, as it is called, in 
the corner of the hearth, along side of a good fire. 

■' 30th, Saturday. Early this morning the husband and wife set off for the city 
with their marketing; and we, having explored the land in the vicinity, left after 
breakfast. We went a part of the way through a woods and fine, new-made land, 
and so along the shore to the west end of the island, called Najack.% As we pro- 
ceeded along the shore, we found, among other curiosities, a highly-marbled stone, 
very hard, in which we saw Muscovy glass lying in layers between the clefts, and 
how it was struck or cut out. We broke off a small piece with some difficulty, and 
picked out a little glass in the splits. Continuing onward from there, we came to 
the plantation of the Nujuck Indians, which was planted with maize, or Turkish 
wheat. We soon heard a noise of pounding, like thrashing, and went to the place 
whence it proceeded, and found there an old Indian woman busily employed beating 
Turkish beans out of the pods by means of a stick, which she did with astonishing 
force and dexterity. Gerrit inquired of her, in the Indian language, which he spoke 
perfectly well, how old she was, and she answered eighty years ; at which we were 
still more astonished that so old a woman should still have so much strength and 



* The striped bass. 

I The shad. 

X Fort Hamilton, -which is surrounded, in a great measure, by a marsh, and hence is here called 
an island. 



61 

courage to work as she did. We went from thence to her habitation, where we 
found the whole troop together, consisting of seven or eight families, and twenty or 
twenty -two persons, I should think. Their house was low and long, about sixty 
feet long and fourteen or fifteen feet wide. The bottom was earth, the sides and 
roof were made of reed and the bark of chestnut trees ; the posts, or columns, were 
limbs of trees stuck in the ground, and all fastened together. The top, or ridge of 
the roof, was open about half a foot wide, from one end to the other, in order to let 
the smoke escape, in place of a chimney. On the sides, or walls, of the house, the 
roof was so low that you could hardly stand under it. The entrances, or doors, 
which were at both ends, were so small that they had to stoop down and squeeze 
themselves to get through them. The doors were made of reed, or flat bark. In 
the whole building there was no lime, stone, iron, or lead. They build their fire in 
the middle of the floor, according to the number of families which live in it, so that 
from one end to the other each of them boils its own pot, and eats when it likes, not 
only the families by themselves, but each Indian alone, according as he is hungry , 
at all hours, morning, noon, and night. By each fire are the cooking utensils, con- 
sisting of a pot, a bowl, or calabash, and a spoon also made of a calabash. These 
are all that relate to cooking. They lie upon mats, with their feet towards the fire 
on each side of it. They do not sit much upon any thing raised up, but, for the 
most part, sit on the ground, or squat on their ankles. Their other household 
articles consist of a calabash of water, out of which they drink, a small basket in 
which to carry and keep their maize and small beans, and a knife. The implements 
are, for tillage, a small, sharp stone, and nothing more ; for hunting, a gun and 
pouch for powder and lead; for fishing, a canoe without mast or sail, and without a 
nail in any part of it, though it is sometimes full forty feet in length, fish-hooks and 
lines, and scoop to paddle with in place of oars. I do not know whether there are 
not some others of a trifling nature. All who live in one house are generally of one 
stock or descent, as father and mother, with their offspring. Their bread is maize, 
pounded in a block by a stone, but not fine. This is mixed with water, and made 
into a cake, which they bake under the hot ashes. They gave us a small piece when 
we entered, and although the grains were not ripe, and it was half-baked and coarse 
grains, we nevertheless had to -3at it, or, at least, not throw it away before them, 
which they would have regarded as a great sin, or a great affront. We chewed a 
little of it with long teeth, and managed to hide it so they did not see it. We had 
also to drink out of their calabashes the water which was their drink, and which 
was very good. We saw here the Indians who came on board the ship when we 
arrived. They were all very joyful at the visit of our Gerrit, who was an old 
acquaintance of theirs, and had heretofore long resided there. We presented them 
with two jews-harps, which much pleased them, and they immediately commenced 
to play upon them, which they could do tolerably well. Some of their patroons 
(chiefs), some of whom spoke good Dutch, and a.re also their medicine-men and sur- 
geons as well as their teachers, were busy making shoes of deer-leather, which they 
understand how to make soft by continually working it in their hands. They had 
dogs, fowls, and hogs, which they learn by degrees from the Europeans how to 
manage better. They had, also, peach trees, which were well laden. Towards the 
last, we asked them for some peaches, and they answered : ' Go and pick them,' 
which showed their politeness. However, in order not to offend them, we went off 
and pulled some. Although they are such a poor, miserable people, they are, never- 
theless, licentious and proud, and given to knavery and scoffing. Seeing a very old 
woman among them, we inquired how old she was, when some young fellows, 
laughing and jeering, answered twenty years, while it was evident to us she was not 
less than a hundred. We observed here the manner in which they travel with their 



62 

children, a woman having one which she carried on her back. The little thing- 
clung tight around her neck like a cat, where it was kept secure by means of a piece 
of daffels, their usual garment. Its head, back, and buttocks, were entirely flat. 
How that happened to be so we will relate hereafter, as we now only make mention 
of what we saw. 
******** 

" 4th, Wednesday. We slept for the night in our old place. In the morning 
the horses were harnessed to the wagon for the purpose of carrying us to the 
city, and bringing back some medicines which had arrived for him (Jaques) 
from Holland in our ship. We breakfasted to our full, and rode first to the bay, 
where we had left our traveling bag. Seeing there was nothing to be accomplished 
with our Jan Theunissen, all his great promises having vanished without the least 
result, though they had cost us dearly enough, we let that rest quiet, and taking 
our leave, rode on to H Vlacke Bos, a village situated about an hour and a half's dis- 
tance from there, upon the same plain, which is very large. This village seems to 
have better farms than the bay, and yields full as much revenue. Riding through 
it, we came to the woods and hills, which are very stony and uncomfortable to ride 
over. We rode over them, and passed through the village of Breukelen to the ferry, 
and leaving the wagon there, we crossed over the river and arrived at home at noon, 
where we were able to rest a little, and where our old people were glad to see us. 
We sent back to Jaques half of our tincture calimanaris, and half of our balsam 
sulphureous, and some other things. He had been of service to us in several 
respects, as he promised to be, and that with perfect willingness. 
* * * * * * * * 

"6th, Friday. We remained in the house during the forenoon, but after 
having dined we went out about two o'clock to explore the island of Manathans* 
This island runs east and west, or somewhat more northerly. On the north side of 
it is the' North river, by which it is separated from the main land on the north; on 
the east end it is separated from the main land by a creek, or rather a branch 
of the North river, emptying itself into the East river. They can go over this 
creek at dead low water, upon rocks and reefs, at the place called Spyt den duyvel. 
This creek coming into the East river forms with it the two Barents islands.* 
At the west end of these two running waters, that is, where they come together to 
the east of these islands, they make, with the rocks and reefs, such a frightful eddy 
and whirlpool that it is exceedingly dangerous to pass through them, especially 
with small boats, of which there are some lost every now and then and the persons 
in them drowned ; but experience has taught men the way of passing through them 
with less danger. Large vessels have always less danger because they are not 
capable of being carried along so quickly. There are two places where such whirl- 
ing of the stream occurs, which are on account of the danger and {rightfulness 
called the Great and Little Hellgate. After these two streams are united, the 
island of Manathans is separated on the south from Long Island by the East river, 
which, beginning at the bay before New York, runs eastwardly, after forming several 
islands, again into the sea. This island is about seven hours distance in length, 
but it is not a full hour broad. The sides are indented with bays, 'coves, and creeks. 
It is almost entirely taken up, that is, the land is held by private owners, but not half 
of it is cultivated. Much of it is good wood land. The west end, on which the city 
lies, is entirely cleared for more than an hour's distance, though that is the poorest 
ground ; the best being on the east and north side. There are many brooks of fresh 

* Now called Great and Little Barn Islands. 



63 

water running through it, pleasant and proper for man and beast to drink, as well 
as agreeable to behold, affording cool and pleasant resting-places, but especially 
suitable places for the construction of mills, for although there is no overflow of 
water yet it can be shut off and so used. A little eastward of Nieu Haerlem there 
are two ridges of very high rocks, with a considerable space between them, display- 
ing themselves very majestically, and inviting all men to acknowledge in them the 
majesty, grandeur, power, and glory of their Creator, who has impressed such marks 
upon them. Between them runs the road to Spyt den duyvd. The one to the north is 
most apparent ; the south ridge is covered with earth on its north side, but it can be 
seen from the water or from the main land beyond to the south. The soil between 
these ridges is very good, though a little hilly and stony, and would be very suitable, 
in my opinion, for planting vineyards, in consequence of its being shut off on both 
sides from the winds which would most injure them, and is very warm. We found 
blue grapes along the road which were very good and sweet, and as good as any I 
have tasted in the Fatherland. 

We went from the city, following the Broadway, over the valey, or the fresh 
water. Upon both sides of this way were many habitations of negroes, mulattoes, 
and whites. These negroes were formerly the proper slaves of the West India 
Company, but, in consequence of the frequent changes and conquests of the country, 
they have obtained their freedom and settled themselves down where they have 
thought proper, and thus on this road, where they have ground enough to live on 
with their families. We left the village called the Bomoerij, lying on the right 
hand, and went through the woods to New Harlem, a tolerably large village sit- 
uated on the south side of the island, directly opposite the place where the north- 
east creek and the East river come together, situated about three hours' journey 
from New Amsterdam, like as old Harlem in Europe is situated about three hours 
distance from old Amsterdam. As our guide, G-errit, had some business here, and 
found many acquaintances, we remained over night at the house of me Geresolveert, 
scout (sheriff or constable) of the place, who had formerly lived in Brazil, and whose 
heart was still full of it. This house was constantly filled with people all the time 
drinking for the most part that execrable rum. He had also the best cider we have 
tasted. Among the crowd we found a person of quality, an Englishman, named 
Captain Cartaret, whose father is in great favor with the king, and he himself had 
assisted in several exploits in the king's service. He was administrator or captain- 
general of the English forces which went, in 1660, to retake St. Kitts, which the 
French had entirely conquered, and were repulsed. He had also filled some high 
office, in the ship of the Duke of York, with two hundred infantry under his com- 
mand. The king has given to his father, Sir George Cartaret, the entire govern- 
ment of the lands west of the North river, in New Netherland, with power to 
appoint as governor whom he pleases ; and at this present time there is a governor 
over it by his appointment, another Cartaret, his nephew, I believe, who resides at 
Elizabethtown, in New Jersey, f From this Cartaret in England the Quakers have 
purchased the privilege of a government of their own, over a large tract of terri- 
tory which they have bought and settled within his dominion ; and it is but little 
different from their having bought the entire right of government of the whole of 



* Resolved, a Christian name. 

I Philip Cartaret, the brother, not the nephew, of Sir George, is the person here meant. He 
was appointed governor of New Jersey, under the joint proprietorship of Lord Berkeley and Sir 
George Cartaret, in 1664, and of East Jersey in 1674, under the sole grant to Sir George. He resigned 
in 1682, and died in December of that year, in this country, leaving a widow, the daughter of Richard 
Smith, Smithtown, on Long Island.— Whiteftead's East Jersey under the Proprietors, 36, 84. 



64 

his land. This son is a very profligate person. He married a merchant's daughter 
here, and has so lived with his wife that her father has been compelled to take her 
home again. He runs about among the farmers, and stays where he can find most 
to drink, and sleeps in barns on the straw. If he conducted himself properly, he 
could be, not only governor here, but hold higher positions, for he has studied the 
moi-alities, and seems to have been of a good understanding : but that is all now 
drowned. His father, who will not acknowledge him as his son, as before, allows 
him yearly as much only as is necessary for him to live. 

" 7th, Saturday. This morning, about half-past six, we set out from the village 
in order to go to the end of the island ; but before we left we did not omit supply- 
ing ourselves with peaches, which grew in an orchard along the road. The whole 
ground was covered with them and with apples, lying upon the new grain with 
which the orchard was planted. The peaches were the most delicious we had yet 
eaten. "We proceeded on our way, and when we were not far from the point of 
Spyt den duyvel we could see on our left hand the rocky cliffs of the main land on 
the other side of the North river, these cliffs standing straight up and down, with 
the grain, just as if they were antimony. We crossed over the Spyt den duyvel in a 
canoe, and paid nine stuivers fare for us three, which was very dear. We followed 
the opposite side of the land, and came to the house of one V<dentyn, a great 
acquaintance with our Gerrit. He had gone to the city, but his wife, though she 
did not know Gerrit or us, was so much rejoiced to see Hollanders that she hardly 
knew what to do for us. She set before us what she had. We left after breakfast- 
ing there. Her son showed us the way and we came to a road entirely covered 
with peaches. We asked the boy why they left them to lie there and they did not 
let the hogs eat them. He answered, we do not know what to do with them, there 
were so many ; the hogs are satiated with them, and will not eat any more. From 
this we may judge of the quantity of them. We pursued our way now a small 
distance through the w r oods and over the hills, then back again along the shore to a 
point, where one Webblinyh, an Englishman, lived, who was standing ready to cross 
over. He carried us over with him, and refused to take any pay for our passage, 
offering us at the same time some of his rum, a liquor which is everywhere. We 
were now again at New Harlem, and dined with Gerosolveert, at whose house we 
slept the night before, and who made us welcome. It was jiow two o'clock ; and 
leaving there we crossed over the island, which takes about three-quarters of an 
hour to do, and came to the North river, which we followed a little within the 
woods, to Sappokcmikke.* Gerrit having a sister and friends there we rested our- 
selves, and drank some good beer which refreshed us. We continued along the 
shore to the city, where we arrived in an hour in the evening, very much fatigued, 
having walked this day about forty miles. I must add, in passing through this 
island we sometimes encountered such a sweet smell in the air that we stood still, 
because we did not know what it was we were meeting." 

" 14th, Saturday. Being under sail, as I have said, it was so entirely calm that 
we could only float with the stream until we came to the Schutters island, where 
we obtained the tide again. It was now about four o'clock. In order to protect 
ourselves from the air, which was very cold and piercing, we crept under the sail, 
which w r as very old and full of holes. The tide having run out by daylight we 
came under sail again, with a good wind, which brought us to the city at about 
eight o'clock, for which we were glad, and returning thanks to God, betook our- 
selves to rest. 

* According' to Judge Benson this was the Indian name of the point, afterward known as 
Greenwich, on the north side of the city.— New York Historical Collections, second series, 84. 



65 

"15th, Sunday. "We went at noon to-day to hear the English minister, whose 
services took place after the Dutch church was out. There were not above twenty- 
five or thirty people in the church. The first thing that occurred was the reading 
of all their prayers and ceremonies out of the prayer-book, as is done in all Episcopal 
churches. A young man then went into the pulpit and commenced preaching, who 
thought he was performing wonders ; but he had a little book in his hand out of 
which he read his sermon, which was about a quarter of an hour or half an hour 
long.* "With this the services were concluded, at which we could not be suffi- 
ciently astonished. This was all that happened with us to-day." 

From the year 1674, under Edmund Andross, commenced the new 
regime in New York. Andross was a public officer of ability, but well 
known for his imperious and despotic disposition. The people imme- 
diately petitioned their royal master, the Duke of York, for an Assembly 
of Representatives; but James, who regarded popular bodies as dan- 
gerous, refused their prayer, with the question : " What do they want 
with Assemblies ? They have the Court of Sessions presided over by the 
Governor ; or, if this is not enough, they can appeal to me !" Such was 
the English spirit of oppression a century before it was resisted in blood 
at Golden and Bunker Hills. Upon learning of this reply of Andross, 
Sir William Berkly, Governor of Virginia, " thanked God that there were 
neither free-schools nor printing-presses in the colony," fervently adding, 
" God keep us from both !" 

Governor Andross, however — much as he may in after years have 
merited from the people of the Eastern Colonies the title of the 
" Tyrant of New England" — governed New York with wisdom and 
moderation. Desirous of establishing himself on a popular basis with 
the people, one of his first official acts was to appoint, in 1676, a native 
Hollander — Nicholas Meyer — Mayor of the city. The selection was a 
good one. Meyer was one of the most enterprising of traders, and a most 
respectable burgher; and although the duties of his office could not have 
been particularly onerous at a time when only three hundred and one names 
were recorded upon the list of tax-payers, yet what little he did was clone 
honestly and well — a fact that cannot truthfully be stated of New York 
Mayors of later generations. Nor did Andross strive to be popular alone . 
Aware that no government can be a stable one unless placed on a basis of 
sound morality, he at once established ordinances for regulating the public 
morals and promoting the welfare of the city. "The city-gates were ordered 
to be closed at night at nine o'clock, and to be opened at daylight. The 
citizens were required to keep watch by turns, and were fined for absence 
or neglect of duty ; and all profanity and drunkenness were strictly for- 
bidden. Every citizen was ordered to provide himself with a good musket 



* The only English minister in the whole province at this time was attached to the garrison at 
the City of New York. This was the ltev. Charles Wooley, a graduate of Emanuel College, Cam- 
bridge, in 1677. He came to New York in August, 1678, and left there for England in July, 1680. 
He was the author of a small volume with the title of A Two Years' Journal in New York, £c. 
published in 1701, and recently republished, with notes by Dr. E. B. O'Callaghan, in Mr. Gowans' 
interesting series of early works on the colonies. — Note to the Labadisls. 



66 

or firelock with at least six charges of powder and ball, and to appear 
with good arms before the Captain's colors, at the first beating of the 
drum." 

In 1677 the first native-born Mayor was appointed to the Mayoralty. 
This was Stephanus Van Cortlandt, a large property-holder, and after 
whom Cortlandt street is named. Under his administration seven public 
wells were placed in different parts of the city, chiefly as a protection 
agamst fires. 

Meanwhile the necessity of conciliating the Iroquois — the most- 
powerful Indian confederacy, at that time, in America — had received 
little or no attention from the people of New York or their Government. 
The first three English Governors of the colony, or rather lieutenants of 
the Duke of York, viz.: Colonels Nicholls, Lovelace, and Major, after- 
ward Sir Edmund Andross, bestowed but inconsiderable attention upon 
the Five Nations, not seeming to appreciate either the importance of their 
trade or of their friendship. Still the moral hatred they had borne for 
the French inclined them rather to prefer the friendship of the English. 
But the Duke of York, in his affection for the Church of Eome, shutting 
his eyes to what unquestionably should have been the true policy of 
the English toward the Indians, had conceived the idea of handing the 
Confederates over to the Holy See, as converts to its forms, if not to its 
faith. Hence the efforts to mediate the peace between the Iroquois and 
the French of 1667, which were followed by invitations to the Jesuit 
missionaries from the English, to settle among the Confederates, and by 
persuasions to the latter to receive them. The Mohawks were either too 
wise, or too bitter in spirit toward the French, to listen to the proposal. 
But not so with the other nations of the alliance ; and the Oneidas, Ononda- 
gas, Cayugas, and Senecas opened their arms to the insidious stangers in 
holy garb, causing infinite mischief in after years, as will appear in the 
sequel. 

This peace of 1667 continued several years, during which time both 
the English and French prosecuted their trade with the Indians to a 
great and profitable extent. The French, especially, evinced a degree of 
energy, and a spirit of enterprise, almost unexampled in the history of 
colonization — planting their trading-posts, under the lead of the adven- 
turous La Salle, at all the commanding points of the great lakes, and 
across the country ]of the Illinois to the Mississippi ; and stealing the hearts 
of the Indians through the arts of the crafty ministers of the order of Jesus, 
whom they sprinkled among the principal nations over the whole country 
of the exploration. By these bold advances deep into the interior, and the 
insiduous wiles which everywhere characterized their movements, the 
French acquired a decided advantage over the English colonists in the 
fur trade, which it was evidently their design exclusively to engross ; 
while the direct tendency of the Duke of York's policy, originating in 
blindness and bigotry, was to produce exactly the same result. 



07 

The error was soon perceived by Colonel Dongan, who arrived in the 
colony as the successor of Major Andross, in 1683. Though his religious 
faith was in harmony with that of his royal master, he nevertheless 
possessed an enlarged understanding, with a disposition, as a Civil Gov- 
ernor, to look more closely after the interests of the crown than those of the 
crosier. He had not been long at the head of the colony before he per- 
ceived the mistakes of his predecessors in the conduct of its Indian relations. 
In fighting-men, the Five Nations at that time numbered ten times more 
than they did half a century afterward ; * and the Governor saw at once 
their importance as a wall of separation between the English colonies and 
the French. He saw, also, the importance of their trade, which the 
Jesuit priests were lai^gely influential in diverting to Canada. He saw 
that M. de Courcelles had erected a fort at Cadaraqui, within the terri- 
tory of the Iroquois, on the north side of Lake Ontario,! and that La 
Salle had built a bark of ten tons upon that lake, and another of fifty 
upon Lake Erie, planting also a stockade at Niagara. He saw that the 
French were intercepting the trade of the English upon the lakes, and 
that the priests had succeeded in seducing numbers of the Mohawks and 
river Indians away from their own country, and planting their colonies 
upon the banks of the St. Lawrence, in the neighborhood of Montreal, 
through whose agency an illicit trade had been established with the City 
of Albany, by reason of which Montreal, instead of Albany, was becom- 
ing the principal depot of the Indian trade. He saw, in a word, the subtle 
followers of Ignatius Loyola were rapidly alienating the affections of 
the Confederates from the English and transferring them to the French, 
and that unless the policy respecting them was changed, the influence of 
the English would, at no distant day, be at an end with them. Nor had 
the priests confined their efforts simply to moral suasion ; but, as though 
aiming to separate the Confederates from the English at a blow, and by 
a gulf so wide and deep as to be impassable, they had instigated them to 
commit positive hostilities upon the frontier settlements of Maryland 
and Virginia. 

Having made himself thoroughly acquainted with these matters, 
Colonel Dongan lost no time in seeking to countervail the influence of 
the French, and to bring back the Indians to a cordial understanding 
with his own people. His instructions from home were to encourage the 
Jesuit missionaries. These he not only disregarded, but he ordered the 
missionaries away, and forbade the Five Nations to entertain them. It 
is true this order was never enforced to the letter, the priests, some of 
them at least, maintaining a foothold at several points of the Confederacy 
— dubious at times, certainly — but yet maintaining it for three-quarters 

* Memoir of Dr. Golden, concerning the fur trade, presented to Governor Bur- 
nett in 1724. 

f The site of Kingston, Canada West. 



68 

of a century afterward. Still, the measures of conciliation adopted by 
Colonel Dongan made a strong and favorable impression upon the 
Indians. 

Availing himself of the difficulty between the Confederates and Vir- 
ginia, consequent upon the outrages just adverted to as having been in- 
stigated by the priests, Colonel Dongan was instrumental in procuring a 
convention of the Five Nations, at Albany, in 1684, to meet Lord Howard* 
of Effingham, Governor of Virginia, at which he (Dongan) was likewise 
present. This meeting, or council, was attended by the happiest results. 
The difficulties with Virginia were adjusted, and a covenant made with 
Lord Howard for ^preventing further depredations.* But what was of 
yet greater importance, Colonel Dongan succeeded in completely gaining 
the affections of the Indians, who conceived for him the warmest esteem. 
They even asked that the arms of the Duke of York might be put upon 
their castles, a request which it need not be said was most readily com- 
plied with, since, should it afterward become necessary, the Governor 
might find it convenient to construe it into an act of at least partial sub- 
mission to English authority, although it has been asserted that the 
Indians themselves looked upon the ducal insignia as a sort of charm 
that might protect them against the French. t 

There was likewise another fortunate occurrence of events just at that 
time, which revived all the ancient animosity between the Iroquois and 
the French. While the conferences between Lord Howard and the 
Indians were yet in progress, a message was received from M. de la Barre, 
the Governor of Canada, complaining of the conduct of the Senecas in 
prosecuting hostilities against the Miamies and other western nations in 
alliance with the French, and thus interrupting their trade. Colonel 
Dongan communicated the message to the Iroquois chiefs, who retorted 
by charging the French with supplying their enemies vith all their muni- 
tions of war. " OnontioJ calls us children," said they, " and at the same 
time sends powder to our enemies to kill us !" This collision resulted in 
open war between the Iroquois and the French, the latter sending to 
France for powerful reinforcements, with the design of an entire subju- 
gation of the former in the ensuing year. Meantime the French Catho- 
lics continued to procure letters from the Duke of York to his lieutenant 
commanding him to lay no obstacles in the way of the invaders. But 
these commands were again disregarded. Dongan apprised the Iroquois 
of the designs of the French, not only to march against them with a strong 
army, but simultaneously to bring down upon them the western Indians 



* Smith's History of New York. 

■\ Colden's History oftht Five Nations. 

\ The name by which the Iroquois were wont to speak of the French Governors 



<of Canada. 



69 

in their interest. The English Governor also promised to assist them if 
necessary. 

Thus by the wisdom and the strong sense of justice of Colonel Don- 
gan, was the chain of friendship between the English and the Five 
Nations brightened and the most amicable relations re-established. Yet 
for the course he had taken, he fell under the displeasure of his bigoted 
master on his accession to the throne in 1685. 

It is not, of course, within the purpose of this history to trace the 
progress of the long and cruel wars that succeeded the negotiations 
between Colonel Dongan and the Confederates. Briefly it may be said 
in respect to the expedition of M. de la Barre, that it failed by reason of 
sickness in his army at Cadaraqui, before crossing the lake. He was 
succeeded in the government of Canada by the Marquis Denonville. who 
invaded the Seneca country in 1687 with a powerful force, gaining, how- 
ever, such a victory over the Indians in the Genessee Valley as led to an 
inglorious retreat. This invasion was speedily recompensed by the Con- 
federates, who descended upon the French settlements of the St. Law- 
rence like a tempest, and struck a blow of terrible vengeance upon Mon- 
treal itself. 

New York was at this time torn by the intestine commotions inci- 
dent to the revolution which drove the Stuarts from the English throne, 
and ended the power of the Catholics in the colony. It was a conse- 
quence of these divisions that the English could afford the Indians no 
assistance in their invasion of Canada at that time, else that country 
would then doubtless have been wrested from the Crown of France. But 
the achievements of the Indians were, nevertheless, most important for 
the Colony of New York, the subjugation of which was at that precise 
conjuncture meditated by France, and a combined expedition, by land 
and sea, was undertaken for that purpose — Admiral Caffniere command- 
ing the ships which sailed from Rochefort for New York, and the Count 
de Frontenae, who had succeeded Denonville, being the General of the 
land forces. On his arrival at Quebec, however, the Count beheld his 
province reduced to a field of devastation, and he was therefore con- 
strained to abandon the enterprise. 

Nor was Governor Dongan's administration in the government of the 
colony itself characterized by less wisdom than his dealings with the 
Indians. He was highly respected as Governor — being upright, discreet, 
and of accomplished manners, added to which his firm and judicious 
policy, and his steadfast integrity, soon won for him "the affections of 
his people, and made him one of the most popular of the Royal Governors." 
Two years previous to his arrival, the aldermen of New York, and the 
justices of the peace of the Court of Assize, in consequence of the tyranny 
of Andross, had petitioned the Duke that the people might be allowed 
to participate in the affairs of the government by the construction of a 



70 

General Assembly, in which they might be represented. Through the 
interposition of William Penn, who enjoyed the favor both of the King 
and the Duke, the point was yielded, and Colonel Dongan was instructed 
to allow the people a voice in the government, Greatly to the joy of the 
inhabitants, therefore, who had become turbulent, if not disaffected, under 
the rule of Andross, writs were issued to the sheriffs summoning the 
freeholders to choose representatives to meet the new Governor in 
assembly. He thus gave the colony its first legislative assembly, which, 
meeting for the first time in the City of New York, on the 17th of 
October, 1683, consisted of the Governor, ten councillors, and seventeen 
representatives elected by the people. Henceforth, and up to the period 
of the American Ee volution, the history of New York City as the legis- , 
lative capital of the province, consists, for the most part, in a series of bitter 
scenes between the Assembly and the Royal Governors. The first act 
of the Assembly was to give to the province its first " Charter of 
Liberties," by which it was ordained " that supreme legislative power 
shotild forever reside in the Governor, < louncil, and people met in General 
Assembly ; that every freeholder and freeman might vote for representa- 
tives without restraint ; that no freeman should suffer but by judgment 
of his peers, and that all trials should be by a jury of twelve men ; that 
no tax should be' assessed on any pretense whatever but by the consent 
of the Assembly ; that no seaman or soldier should be quartered on the 
inhabitants against their will ; that no martial law should exist; and that 
no person professing faith in God. by Jesus Christ, should at any time be 
in any way disquieted or questioned for any difference of opinion in 
matters of religion." Three assemblies, at least, were to be held every 
year ; and should any seat become vacant, a new election was to be at 
once ordered by the Governor. One of the first acts of the Assembly was 
to divide the Province into twelve counties — New York, Richmond, Kings, 
Queens, Suffolk. Orange, Ulster, Albany, Westchester, Duchess, Dukes, 
and' Cornwall — all of which names, with the exception of the last two, 
still remain at the present day. 

The Assembly, also, lost no time in bettering the condition of the 
city itself. " New police regulations were at once established. Sunday 
laws were enacted ; tavern-keepers were forbidden to sell liquor except 
to travelers, citizens to work, children to play in the streets, and 
Indians and negroes to assemble on the Sabbath. Twenty cartmen 
were licensed by the municipal authorities, on condition that they 
should repair the highways gratis whenever called on by the Mayor, 
and cart the dirt from the streets, which the inhabitants were required to 
sweep together every Saturday afternoon beyond the precincts of the city. 
The rate of cartage was fixed at three pence per load to any place within 
the bounds of the city ; beyond which, the price was doubled. The 
cartmen, however, soon proved refractory, and a few weeks after, the 



71 

license system was abandoned, and all persons, with the exception of 
slaves, were allowed to act as cartmen. 

" On the 8th of December, 1683, the city was divided into six wards. 
Tne First or South Ward, beginning at the river, extended along the 
west side of Broad to Beaver street ; thence westward along Beaver street 
to the Bowling Green ; thence southward by the fort to Pearl street ; and 
thence westward along the river-shore to the place of starting. The 
Second or Dock Ward, also beginning at the river at the southeast corner 
of Pearl and Broad streets, extended along the shore to Hanover Square ; 
thence northward through William to Beaver street ; thence along Beaver 
to Broad street ; thence back through Broad to the river-shore. The 
Third or East Ward formed a sort of triangle, beginning at the corner of 
Pearl and Hanover, Square, and extending along the shore' to the Half- 
Moon Fort at the foot of Wall street ; thence stretching along Wall to the 
corner of William, and thence returning along the east side of William 
to the river. The Fourth or North Ward, beginning at the northwest 
corner of William and Beaver streets, extended through the former to 
the corner of Wall ; thence westerly along the palisades to a line a little 
beyond Nassau street ; thence southerly to Beaver street ; thence easterly 
along Beaver to the first-named point. The Fifth or West Ward, 
beginning at the junction of the Fourth Ward with Beaver street. 
extended northerly along the boundary line of the latter to Wall street ; 
thence along the palisades to Broadway : thence southerly to Beaver 
street ; thence easterly to the point of starting. The Sixth or Out Ward 
comprised all the farms and plantations outside the city walls, including 
the Town of Harlem. Each of these wards was authorized to elect an 
alderman and councilman annually to represent them in the city govern- 
ment. The Governor and Council retained the appointment of the Mayor 
in their own hands ; it was not. indeed, until long after the Revolution 

that this office was made elective by the people. 

******** 

" In 1686, the Dongan Charter was granted to the city. This 
instrument, which still forms the basis of the municipal rights and 
privileges of New York, confirmed the franchises before enjoyed by the 
corporation, and placed the city government on a definite footing. The 
Governor retained the appointment of the mayor, recorder, sheriff, 
coroner, high-constable, town-clerk, and clerk of the market in his own 
hands ; leaving the aldermen, assistants, and petty constables to be 
chosen by the people at the annual election on St. Michael's Day. This 
charter which was dated April 22, 1686. declared that New York Cm- 
should thenceforth comprise the entire Island of Manhattan, extending 
to the low- water mark of the bays and rivers surrounding it. 

" In the same year, the city received a new seal from the home 
government. This still preserved the beaver of the Dutch, with the 



72 

addition of a flour-barrel and the arms of a wind-mill, in token of the 
prevailing commerce of the city. The whole was supported by two 
Indian chiefs, and encircled with a wreath of laurel, with the motto, 

SlGILLTJM ClVITATIS NOVI EbORACI. 

" In 1687, Stephanus Van Cortlandt was again appointed Mayor. 
During his Mayoralty, it was determined to enlarge the city by building 
a new street in the river along the line of Water street, between Whitehall 
and Old Slip, and water-lots were sold by the corporation on condition 
that the purchasers should make the street toward the water, and protect 
it by a substantial wharf from the washing of the tide, in imitation of 
Waal or sheet pile street, extending along the line of Pearl street, from 
Broad to William streets, in front of the City Hall. It was not, however, 
until some years after, that this scheme was carried into effect, and the 
projected street rescued from the waters. 

" Measures were also taken to enlarge the city still further by placing 
the fortifications further out, and laying out Wall street thirty-six feet 
wide. The fortifications, indeed, were now worse than useless. The 
palisades which had been erected in 1653 along the line of Wall street 
had fallen down, the works were in ruins, the guns had disappeared from 
the artillery-mounts, and the ditches and stockades were in a ruinous 
condition. Their immediate removal was determined on and ordered, but 
was delayed by the revolution which followed soon after. When war 
broke out between France and England in 1693, they were again repaired 
to be in readiness for the expected French invasion, and it was not until 
1699 that their demolition was finally accomplished. Wall street, how- 
ever, was laid out immediately, and it was not long before it became one 
of the most important thoroughfares in the city. During the same year, 
a valuation was made of the city property, which was estimated on the 
assessor's books at £78,231."* 

Many other municipal regulations concerning hucksters, bakers, 
butchers, and others, were established — then esteemed of vital importance, 
but a repetition of which would only weary. A single item, however, 
deserves notice, as illustrating the punishments practiced in olden times. 
A pillory, cage, whipping-post, f and ducking-stool, were set up in the 
vicinity of the City Hall, and hither were brought all vagrants, slanderers, 
pilferers, and truant children, to be exposed to the public gaze, and to 
receive such chastisement as their offenses might warrant. It is to be 
regretted, in view of the present army of such people in the City of New 
York, that a similar ordinance is not now in force. 

Meanwhile, William and Mary had been proclaimed King and Queen 



* Miss Mary L. Booth's History of New York. 

\ A whipping-post, put up in 1630, is still standing on the Village Green, in 
Fairfield, Connecticut. 



73 

of England in place of James II, who, having abdicated the throne, 
had become a wanderer on the Continent. This change in the home 
government from a Catholic to a Protestant one, necessitated a corre- 
sponding change in the Governor at New York. Colonel Sloughter was, 
accordingly, commissioned to the government of New York in January, 
1689, but did not arrive until the 19th of March, 1691. The selection 
of Sloughter was not fortunate. According to Smith, he was utterly 
destitute of every qualification for government : licentious in his morals, 
avaricious, and base. 'Leisler, who had administered the government 
after a fashion, since the departure of Dongan, intoxicated with power, 
refused to surrender the government to Sloughter, and attempted to 
defend the fort, in which he had taken refuge, against him. Finding it 
expedient, however, very soon to abandon the fort, he was arrested, and, 
with his son-in-law, Milburne, tried and executed for treason. Still, on 
the whole, the conduct of Leisler during the revolution had been con- 
sidered patriotic, and his sentence was deemed very unjust and cruel. 
Indeed, his enemies could not prevail upon Sloughter to sign the warrant 
for his execution until, for that purpose, they got him intoxicated. It 
was a murderous affair. Sloughter' s administration was short and tur- 
bulent. He died July 23d, 1691. 

On the death of Sloughter, Richard Ingoldsby, the captain of an 
independent company, was made president of the council, to the exclusion 
of Joseph Dudley, who, but for his absence in Boston, would have had 
the right to preside, and upon whom the government would have devolved. 
But although Dudley very soon returned to New York, he did not contest 
the authority of Ingoldsby, who administered the government until the 
arrival of Colonel Fletcher, with a commission as governor, in August, 
1692. In the preceding month of June, Ingoldsby met the Five Nations 
in council at Albany, on which occasion they declared their enmity to the 
French in the strongest possible terms. Their expressions of friendship 
for the English were also renewed. " Brother Corlaer," said the sachem, 
" we are all the subjects of one great king and queen ; we have one head, 
one heart, one interest, and are all engaged in the same war." They 
nevertheless condemned the English for their inactivity, " telling them 
that the destruction of Canada would not make one summer's work, 
against their united strength, if ingeniously exerted." 

In conducting the Indian affairs of the colony, Colonel Fletcher 
took Major Schuyler into his councils, and was guided by his opinions. 
" No man understood those affairs better than he ; and his influence over 
the Indians was so great, that whatever Quider,* as they called him, 
either recommended or disapproved, had the force of a law. This power 
over them was supported, as it had been obtained, by repeated offices of 



* Quider, the Iroquois pronunciation of Peter. Having no labials in their 
language, they could not say Peter. 



74 

kindness, and his single bravery and activity in the defense of his coun- 
try." * Through the influence of Quider, therefore. Colonel Fletcher was 
placed upon the best footing with the Indians, by whom was conferred 
upon him the name of Cayenguinago, or "The Great Swift Arrow," as a 
compliment for a remarkably rapid journey made by him from New York 
to Schenectady on a sudden emergency. t 

Desparing, at length, of accomplishing a peace with the Five Nations) 
Count Frontenac determined to strike' a blow upon the Mohawks in their 
own country — which purpose was securely executed in the month of 
February, 160o. For once this vigilant race of warriors were taken by 
surprise, two of their castles being entered and captured without much 
resistance — the warriors of both having been mostly absent at Schenec- 
tady. < hi assailing the third, or upper castle, however, the invaders met 
with a different reception. The warriors within, to the number of forty, 
were engaged in a war-dance, preparatory to some military expedition 
upon which they were -about entering: and though inferior in force, yet 
they yielded not without a struggle, nor until thirty of the assailants had 
hem slain. About three hundred of the Mohawks were taken prisoners 
in this invasion, in respect to which the people of Schenectady have been 
charged with bad conduct. They neither aided their neighbors, nor even 
apprised them of the approach of danger, although informed of the fact 
in due season themselves. But Quider, the fast friend of the Indians, 
took the field at the head of the militia of Albany, immediately on hear- 
ing .of the invasion, and harassed the enemy sharply during their retreat. 
Indeed, but for the protection of a snow-storm, and the accidental resting 
of a cake of ice upon the river, forming a bridge for their escape, the 
invaders would have been cut off. 

Fletcher was by profession a soldier, a man of strong passions and 
inconsiderable talents: very active, and equally avaricious. His adminis- 
tration was so energetic and successful the first year, that he received 
large supplies, and a vote of special thanks from the Assembly. He was 
a bigot, however, to the Episcopal form of church government, and 
labored hard to introduce into the province the English language, to 
encourage English churches and schools. On this account he was soon 
involved in a violent controversy with the Assembly, who were at first 
inclined rather to favor the Dutch churches. But in 1693 an Assembly 
was found, who, more pliant, passed an act "Providing tor the building 
of a church in the City of New York, in which was to be settled a Pro- 
testant minister " — the word Protestant being tacitly understood to mean 
Episcopal, This was the origin of Trinity Church,]: which was forthwith 



* Smith's History of Nt W York. 

f Colden's Six Nations. 

% This church was destroj ed by fire in 1770, and lay in ruins until 1738, when it 
was rebuilt. In 1839 it was torn down to build the present edifice, which was 
opened in 1846. 



75 

begun in 1696, and finished and opened for public worship in February, 
1697, under the auspices of the Eev. William Vesey. The church itself, 
which was a very insignificant building, resembled its present namesake 
on the same site in nothing save in having a very tall spire. Certainly 
it did not resemble the present Trinity in having set apart in it (as it did) 
a pew for the Mayor and Common Council, to whom a sermon was annu- 
ally preached, on the day of the city election. What a pity it is, how- 
ever, that this good old custom cannot be revived — for, of all persons, 
who need religious instruction more than our worthy Mayors and Alder- 
men '? Was the setting apart of this pew intended as a delicate piece of 
sarcasm, or were the city officials of that day really men of a different 
stamp ? 

Fletcher was succeeded by Richard, Earl of Bellamont, who was 
appointed Governor of New York, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire, 
in May, 1695, but did not arrive in New York until May, 1698. He was 
appointed by King William with a special view to the suppression of 
piracy in the American seas — New York, at that time, having been a 
commercial depot of the pirates, with whom Fletcher, and other officers in 
the colony, had a good understanding. Kidd was fitted out with a ship 
by Bellamont, Robert Livingstone, and others, including several English 
noblemen. Turning pirate himself, Kidd was afterward arrested in Bos- 
ton by the Earl, and sent home for trial. The Earl was a nobleman of 
polite manners, a great favorite of King William, and very popular 
among the people both of New York and Boston. He had been dissipated 
in his youth, but afterward became penitent and devout. He died in New 
York, in March, 1701. 

On the death of Earl Bellamont, the government devolved upon Mr. 
Nanfan, the Lieutenant-Governor, until the appointment of Lord Corn- 
bury, in 1702. A public dinner was given in honor of his arrival; he 
was presented with the freedom of the city, in a gold box ; and a con- 
gratulatory address was tendered him by the city authorities. It was 
not long, however before his true character appeared. He was a very 
tyrannical, base, and profligate man, and was appointed to the government 
of New York by King William, as a reward for his desertion of King 
James, in whose army he was an officer. He was a savage bigot and 
an ungentlemanly tyrant. He imprisoned several clergymen who were 
dissenters, and robbed the Rev. M. Hubbard, of Jamaica, of his house 
and glebe. He was wont to dress himself in women's clothes, and thus 
patrol the fort. His avarice was insatiable, and his disposition that of a 
savage. 

The only things worthy of note during his administration are : First, 
the establishment by the corporation of the city of a free grammar- 
school ; and second, the raging of a malignant epidemic, which strongly 
resembled the yellow-fever. The terror-stricken citizens fled to the shores 



76 

of New Jersey and Staten Island ; and Lord Cornbury, with his council, 
took up his quarters at Jamaica, Long Island. But the inhabitants of 
New York had a worse plague, than even the pestilence, in Cornbury ; who, 
at length, becoming an object of universal abhorrence and detestation, was 
superseded by Queen Anne, who, in the autumn of 1708, appointed John, 
Lord Lovelace, Baron of Hurley, in his place. 

Lovelace, however, did not long enjoy either the cares or pleasures 
of office. He died on the 5th of May in the next year, of a disorder 
contracted in crossing the ferry at his first arrival in New York. On the 
death of his lordship, the government once more devolved upon Richard 
Ingoldsby, the Lieutenant-Governor of the colony, until the arrival of 
Governor Hunter, in the summer of 1710. 

Hunter was a Scotchman, and when a boy, an apprentice to an 
apothecary. Leaving his master, he entered the army, and being a man 
of wit and beauty, gained promotion, and also the hand of Lady Hay. In 
1707 he was appointed Li uitenant-Governor of Virginia, but being cap- 
tured by the French on his voyage out. on his return to England he was 
appointed to the government of New York and New Jersey, then united 
in the same jurisdiction. Governor Hunter was the man who brought 
over the three thousand Palatines from Germany, by whom the German 
settlements in the interior of New York and Pennsylvania were founded. 
He administered the government of the colony " well and wisely,'' as was 
said to him in an affectionate parting address by the General Assembly, 
until the summer of 1719. when he returned to England, on leave of 
absence, as Avell on account of his health as to look after his private affairs. 
He intimated, upon his departure, that he might return to the government 
again, but did not. The chief command on his departure devolved on 
the Hon. Peter Schuyler, as the oldest member of the council, but only 
for a brief period. He, however, held a treaty with the Six Nations at 
Albany, which was considered satisfactory ; yet it would have been more 
so, had his efforts to induce the Confederates to drive Joncaire, the artful 
aixent of the French, out of their country, been successful. This Jesuit 
emissary had resided among the Senecas from the beginning of Queen 
Anne's reign. He had been adopted by them, and was greatly beloved 
by the Onondagas. He was incessant in his intrigues in behalf of the 
French, facilitating the missionaries in their progress through the country, 
and contributing greatly to the vacillating course of the Indians toward 
the English. Schuyler was aware of all this ; but notwithstanding his 
own great influence over the Six Nations, he could not prevail upon them 
to discard their favorite. In other respects the government of Schuyler 
was marked by moderation, wisdom, and integrity. 

About this period a " new market was established at the upper end 
of Broad street, between the City Hall and Exchange Place, and per- 
mission was given to the residents of the vicinity to erect stalls and sheds 



77 

to suit their convenience, under the direction of the Clerk of the Market. 
Country people were also permitted to sell meat at wholesale or retail, as 
they pleased, subject to the same supervision; and bakers were required 
to brand their loaves with their initials, under penalty of forfeiture of 
the bread. In the spring of the same year (1711) it was resolved that a 
meeting of the Common Council should be held at the City Hall on the 
first Friday of every month ; and the treasurer was also ordered to pur- 
chase eighteen rush-bottomed, chairs and an oval table for their accom- 
modation."* 

William Burnet, son of the celebrated prelate of that name who 
■flourished in the reign of William and Mary, succeeded Hunter in the 
government of the colony, in the year 1720 ; and of all the colonial 
Governors of New York, with the exception of Colonel Dongan, his 
Indian and colonial policy was marked by the most prudent forecast and 
the greatest wisdom. Immediately after the peace of Utrecht a a brisk 
trade in goods for the Indian market was revived between Albany and 
Montreal, the Caughnawaga tribe of the Mohawks residing near Mon- 
treal serving as carriers. The chiefs of the Six Nations foresaw the evil 
and inevitable consequences to result from allowing that trade to pass 
round in that direction, inasmuch as the Indians would of course be 
drawn exclusively to Montreal for their supplies, to be received immedi- 
ately at the hands of the French, and they cautioned the English 
authorities against it. Mr. Hunter had indeed called the attention of 
the General Assembly to the subject at an antecedent period ; but no 
action was had thereon until after Mr. Burnet had assumed the direction 
of the colonial administration. The policy of the latter was at once to 
cut off an intercourse so unwise and dangerous with Montreal, and bring 
the entire Indian trade within the limits and control of New York. To 
this end an act was passed at his suggestion, subjecting the traders with 
Montreal to a forfeiture of their goods, and a penalty of one hundred 
pounds for each infraction of the law. It likewise entered into the 
policy of Mr. Burnet- to win the confidence of the Caughnawagas, and 
reunite them with their kindred in their native valley. But the ties by 
which the Roman priesthood had bound them to the interests of the 
French, were too strong, and the efforts of the Governor were unsuc- 
cessful. 

In furtherance of the design to grasp the Indian trade, not only 
of the Six Nations, but likewise that of the remoter nations of the upper 
lakes, a trading-post was established at Oswego in 1722. A trusty agent 

* It is to this day quite a knotty question whether these " rush-bottomed 
chairs" were designed merely to encourage "plain Republican simplicity," or 
whether there was not an intention to make the damage as small as possible, in case 
of the members throwing them at each other's heads- — as is said to have been the 
case within the last few months. 



78 

was also appointed to reside at the great council-fire of the Onondagas,. 
the central nation of the Confederates. A congress of several of the 
colonies was held at Albany to meet the Six Nations, during the same 
year, which, among other distinguished men, was attended by Governor 
Spottswood, of Virginia, Sir William Keith, of Pennsylvania, and by 
Governor Burnet. At this council the chiefs stipulated that in their 
southern war expeditions they would not cross the Potomac, and in their 
marches against their southern enemies, their path was to lie westward 
of the great mountains — the Alleghanies meaning. Mr. Burnet again 
brightened the chain of friendship with them on the part of New York, 
notwithstanding the adverse influences exerted by the Chevalier 
Joncaire, the Jesuit agent residing alternately among the Senecas' 
and Onondagas. 

The beneficial effects of Mr. Burnet's policy were soon apparent. 
In the course of a single year more than forty young men plunged 
boldly into the Indian country as traders, acquired their languages, and 
strengthened the precarious friendship existing between the English and 
the more distant nations ; while tribes of the latter previously unknown 
to the colonists, even from beyond the Michilimackinac, visited Albany 
for purposes of traffic. 

The establishment of an English post at Oswego was a cause of 
high displeasure to the French, who, in order to intercept the trade from 
the upper lakes that would otherwise be drawn thither, and thus be 
diverted from Montreal, determined to repossess themselves of Niagara, 
rebuild the trading-house at that point, and repair their dilapidated 
fort. The consent of the Onondagas to this measure was obtained 
by the Baron de Longueil, who visited their country for that purpose, 
through the influence of Joncaire and his Jesuit associates. But the 
other members of the Confederacy, disapproving of the movement, 
declared the permission given to be void, and dispatched messengers to 
Niagara to arrest the procedure. With a just appreciation of the 
importance of such an encroachment upon their territory, the Confed- 
erates met Mr. Burnet in council upon the subject at Albany in 1727. 
" We come to you howling," said the chiefs ; " and this is the reason 
why we howl, that the Governor of Canada encroaches upon our land 
and builds thereon. 1 ' Governor Burnet made them a speech on the occasion 
beautifully expressed in their own figurative language, which gave them 
great satisfaction.* The chiefs declaring themselves unable to resist 
this invasion of the French, entreated the English for succor, and formally 
surrendered their country to the great king, "to be protected by him 
for their use," as heretofore stated. But Governor Burnet being at that 
period involved in political difficulties with an Assembly too short-sighted 



* Smith's History of New York. 



79 

or too factious to appreciate the importance of preserving so able a head- 
to the colonial government, was enabled to do nothing more for the 
protection of the Indians than to erect a small military defense at 
Oswego ; and even this work of necessity he was obliged to perform at 
his own private expense. Meantime the French completed and secured 
their works at Niagara without molestation. 

In the course of the same year, having been thwarted in his enlarged 
and patriotic views, by several successive assemblies, Mr. Burnet, the 
ablest and wisest of the colonial administrators, retired from the govern- 
ment of New York, and accepted that of Massachusetts and New 
Hampshire. His departure, personally, was universally regretted. He 
was not only a man of letters, but of wit — a believer in the Christian 
religion, yet not a serious professor. A variety of amusing anecdotes 
has been related of him. When on his way from New York to assume 
the government at Boston, one of the committee who went from that 
town to meet him on the borders of Rhode Island, was the facetious 
Colonel Tailer. Burnet complained of the long graces that were said 
before meals by clergymen on the road, and asked when they would 
shorten. Tailer answered : " The graces will increase in length till you 
come to Boston ; after that they will shorten till you come to your gov- 
ernment of New Hampshire, where your excellency will find no grace 
at all." 

Colonel John Montgomery succeeded Mr. Burnet in the government 
of the colonies of New York and New Jersey in the month of April, 
1728. He was a Scotchman and bred a soldier. But quitting the pro- 
fession of arms, he went into parliament, serving, also, for a time, as 
groom of the bed-chamber to his majesty Greorge II, before his accession 
to the throne. He was a man of moderate abilities and slender literary 
attainments. He was too good-natured a man to excite enmities ; and 
his administration was one of trancpail inaction. He was an indolent 
man, and had not character enough to inspire opposition. 

The French perceiving this, and enraged at the erection of a fort at 
Oswego, were now menacing that post. The new governor thereupon 
met the Six Nations in council at Albany, to renew the covenant chain, 
and engage them in the defense of that important station. Large 
presents were distributed among them, and they declared their willing- 
ness to join the reinforcements detached from the independent companies 
for that service. Being apprised o± these preparations, the French 
desisted from their threatened invasion. 

Much of the opposition to the administration of Governor Burnet 
had been fomented and kept alive by the Albanians, who, by the shrewd- 
ness of his Indian policy, and the vigorous measures by which he had 
enforced it, had been interrupted in their illicit trade in Indian goods with 
Montreal, and also by the importers of those goods residing in the City 



80 

of New York. Sustained, however, by his council-board, and by the 
■very able memoir of Doctor Colden upon that subject, Mr. Burnet, as 
the reader has already been apprised, had succeeded in giving a new and 
more advantageous character to the inland trade, while the Indian rela- 
tions of the colony had been placed upon a better footing, in so far, at 
least, as the opportunities of the French to tamper with them had been 
measurably cut off. But in December of the succeeding year, owing to 
some intrigues that were never clearly understood, all these advantages 
were suddenly relinquished by an act of the Crown repealing the meas- 
ures of Mr. Burnet ; reviving, in effect, the execrable trade of the Alba- 
nians, and thus at once reopening the door of intrigue between the 
French and the Six Nations, which had been so wisely closed. 

The three principal events, however, of Montgomery's administration 
effecting the city itself, were the grant of an amended city charter in 
1730, by which the jurisdiction of the city was fixed to begin at King's 
Bridge, the establishment of a line of stages to run between New York 
and Philadelphia once a fortnight during the winter months, and the 
founding of the first public library. 

For more than a century there had been no public library in the 
city, but in the year 1729 some sixteen hundred and twenty-two volumes 
were bequeathed by the Rev. John Millington, rector of Newington, 
England, to the " Venerable Society for the propagation of the Gospel in 
Foreign Parts," by whom the books were in turn immediately presented 
to the city. To this number also was added another collection, the gift 
of the Rev. John Sharp, chaplain to Lord Bellamont, when both collec- 
tions, now one, was opened to the public as the " Corporation Library." 
The librarian dying soon after, the books were neglected until 1754, when 
a few public- spirited citizens founded the Society Library, at the same time 
adding the Corporation collection and depositing the whole in the City 
Hall. The undertaking prospered and in 1772 George III granted it a 
charter. During the Revolutionarj' struggle the library was neglected ; 
but when peace was restored in 1783, the society revived their charter 
and again set themselves to work collecting those volumes that had been 
scattered and replacing those irretrievably lost by new ones. Their efforts 
were so far successful as to warrant them in erecting a library building 
on Nassau street, opposite the Dutch church, a building that for a long 
time was considered one of the finest specimens of architecture of which 
the city could boast. Thence it was removed to the Mechanics' Society 
building on Chambers street, where it remained until the completion of 
their new and fine edifice in 1840 on the corner of Broadway and Leonard 
street. This spot was next vacated and quarters were obtained for it in the 
new Bible House, Astor Place, whence, in 1857, it once more removed to 
its beautiful edifice in University Place, between Twelfth and Thirteenth 
streets. Such is a bird's-eye view of the first public library of New York, 
commenced one hundred and thirty-nine years ago. 



81 

On the decease of Colonel Montgomery, in 1731, the duties of the 
colonial executive were for a brief period exercised by Mr. Rip Van 
Dam, as President of the Douncil.* His administration was signalized by 
the memorable infraction of the treaty of Utrecht by the French, who 
then invaded the clearly-defined territory of New York, and built the 
fortress of St. Frederick, at Crown Point, a work which gave them the 
command of Lake Champlain — the highway between the English and 
French colonies. The pusillanimity evinced by the government of New 
York on the occasion of that flagrant encroachment upon its domains, 
excites the amazement of the retrospective reviewer. Massachusetts, 
alarmed at this advance of the rivals, if not natural enemies, of the 
English upon the settlement of the latter, first called the attention of the 
authorities of New York to the subject ; but the information was received 
with the most provoking indifference. There was a regular military 
force in the colony abundantly sufficient, by a prompt movement, to 
repel the aggression, yet not even a remonstrance was uttered against it. 
With the exception of this infringement upon the territory of New York, 
nothing worthy of special mention occurred during the administration of 
Mr. Van Dam. In August, 1732, Colonel William Cosby arrived in New 
York as his successor. 

The first act of the new Governor was one, which, having its 
rise at first in a mere personal quarrel, was destined to establish, for all 
time in America, the question of the liberty of the press. The act of the 
Governor here alluded to, was the institution of proceedings against Pip 
Van Dam to recover half of the salary which the latter had received 
during his occupation of the Governor's chair. The suit was decided 
against Van Dam, who was consequently suspended from the exercise of 
his functions as President of the Council. This unfair decision naturally 
aroused the indignation of the people, who gave vent to their feelings in 
squibs and lampoons hurled without mercy at the Governor and his 
party. These were, in turn, answered by the New York Gazette, a paper 
published by William Bradford in the interest of the Government ; and 
the controversy finally grew so bitter that John Peter Zenger, a printer 
by trade, was induced, under the patronage, as was supposed, of Pip 
Van Dam, to start a new paper, the New York Weekly Journal — 
the columns of which were to be devoted to opposing the colonial 
administration of Governor Cosby. The columns of the new paper 
teemed with able and spicy articles assailing the acts of the Governor — 
written, probably, by William Smith and James 'Alexander, the two 
prominent lawyers of New York. The Governor, and those members of 
his council who were his satellites, were not long in bringing themselves 

*Mr. Van Dam was an eminent merchant in the City of New York, " of a fair 
estate," says Smith, the, historian, " though distinguished more for the integrity of 
his heart, than his capacity to hold the reins of government." 

6 



82 

into the belief that these articles were actionable ; and thus it happened 
that the first great libel suit tried in this city was instituted by the Govern- 
ment, in 1734, against Zenger. The latter, in a pamphlet whiih he 
wrote afterward upon his trial, quaintly says:* "As there was but one 
Printer in the Province of New York that printed a public News Paper, 
I was in Hopes, if I undertook to publish another. I might make it worth 
my while, and I soon found that my Hopes were not groundless. My 
first paper was printed November 15th, 1733, and I continued printing 
and ptiblishing of them (I thought to the satisfaction of every body) till 
the January following, when the Chief Justice was pleased to animadvert 
upon the Doctrine of Libels in a long charge given in that term to the 
Grand Jury." 

Zenger was thereupon imprisoned on Sunday, the 17th of Novem- 
ber. 17o4. by virtue of a warrant from the Governor and Council; and a 
concurrence of the House of Kepresentatives in the prosecution was 
requested. The House, however, declined by laying the request of the 
Council upon the table. The Governor and Council then ordered the 
libelous papers to be burned by the common hangman or whipper. near 
the pillory. But both the common whipper and the common hangman 
were officers of the Corporation, not of the Crown, and they declined 
officiating at the illumination. The papers were therefore burned by the 
Sheriffs negro servant at the order of the Governor.! An ineffectual 
attempt was next made to procure an indictment against Zenger. but the 

*This pamphlet, which is exceedingly rare, is a large 8vo. 5 1 ., x 9' c incl 
39 pages. It is entitled :\A Brief Narrative of the Case and Trial of John Peter 
Zenger, Printer of the New York Weekly Journal : — Neva York Printed: Lancai 
ted, and sold by W. Dunlap, at the New Printing Offices, - .1736. 

f In the pamphlet before alluded to, Zenger gives the following account of this 
proceeding : 

" At a council held at Fort George in New York the id of November, 1734> 
present, His Excellency William Cosby. Captain-General and Governor-in-Chief. &c., 
Mr. Clark. Mr. Harrison, Dr. Colden " [a note says Dr. Colden was that day at Esopus, 
ninety miles away". " Mr. Livingston. Mr. Kennedy. Mr. Chief Justice, Mr. Cortlandt, 
Mr. Lane. Mr. Horsmanden : 

•• Whereas, By an order of the Board of this day, some of John Peter Zenger's 
journals, entitled the New York Weekly Journal, Nos. ?. 47. 4^. 49, were ordered to 
be burned by the hands of the common hangman or whipper, near the pillory of this 
city, on Wednesday, the 6th inst., between the hours of eleven and twelve. It is 
therefore ordered that the Mayor and Magistrates of this city do attend at the burn- 
ing of the several papers or journals aforesaid, numbered as above-mentioned. 

" Fred. Morris, D. CI. Con. 

•• To Robert Lurteng. Esq., Mayor of the City of Nt <r York, & ." 
The Aldermen protested vigorously against the execution of this order, and 
refused to instruct the Sheriff to execute it. The Sheriff burned the papers, however, 
or " delivered them into the liana* i . negro and ordered him to put them into 

the fire, which ht 



83 

Grand Jury refused . to find a bill. The Attorney-General was then 
directed to file no information against him for printing the libels, and he 
was consequently kept in prison until another term. His counsel offered 
exceptions to the commissions of the judges, which the latter not only 
refused to hear, but excluded his counsel, Messrs. Smith and Alexander, 
from the bar. Zenger then obtained other counsel — John Chambers of New 
York, and Andrew Hamilton of Philadelphia. The trial at length came on 
and excited great interest. The truth, under the old English law of libel, 
could never be given in evidence, and was of course excluded on the 
present trial. Hamilton, nevertheless, tried the case with consummate 
ability. He showed the jury that they were the judges as well of the 
law as the fact, and Zenger was acquitted. " The jury," says Zenger in 
relating the result of the trial, " withdrew, and in a small time returned, 
and being asked by the clerk whether they were agreed upon their 
verdict and whether John Peter Zenger was guilty of printing and 
publishing the libels in the information mentioned, they answered by 
Thomas Hunt, their foreman, not guilty, upon which there were three 
huzzas in the hall, which was crowded with people, and the next day I 
was discharged from imprisonment." 

Immediately after the trial the Corporation voted the freedom of the 
city in a magnificent gold box* to Andrew Hamilton " for the remarkable 
service done to this city and colony, by his defense of the rights of man- 
kind and the liberty of the press." 

Twenty years afterward, however, the Government organ itself fell 
under the displeasure of the reigning powers. Upon the relinquishment 
of his paper in 1743, it was resumed by James Parker under the double 
title of the New York Gazette and Weekly Post Boy. In 1753, ten years 
afterward, Parker took a partner by the name of William Wayman. 
But neither of the partners, nor both of them together, possessed the 
indomitable spirit of John Peter Zenger. Having in March in 1756, 
published an article reflecting upon the people of Ulster and Orange 
Counties, the Assembly, entertaining a high regard for the majesty of the 
people, took offense thereat, and both the editors were taken into custody 
by the sergeant-at-arms. What the precise nature of the insult upon the 
sovereign people of those counties was, does not appear. But the editors 
behaved in a craven manner. They acknowledged their fault begged 

* This gold box was five ounces and a half in weight and inclosed the seal of 
the said Freedom. On its lid was engraved the arms of the City of New York and 
these mottoes : On the outer part of the lid, Demersa Leges — Limefacta 
Libertas — Hose Tandem Emergunt. On the inner side of the lid, Non Nummis — 
Virtute Paratur. On the front of the rim, Ita Cuique Eveniat,ut De Republica 
Meruit. " Which freedom and box," naively adds Zenger, " was presented in the- 
manner that had been directed, and grateftilly accepted by the said Andrew Hamil- 
ton, Esquire." 



84 

pardon of the House, and paid the costs of the proceedings, in addition 
to all which they gave up the name of the author. He proved to be none 
other than the Rev. Hezekiah Watkins, a missionary to the County of 
Ulster, residing at Newburg. The reverend gentleman was accordingly 
arrested, brought to New York, and voted guilty of a high misdemeanor 
and contempt of the authority of the House. Of what persuasion was 
this Mr. Watkins does not appear. But neither Luther, nor Calvin, nor 
Hugh Latimer would have betrayed the right of free discussion as he did 
by begging the pardon of the House, standing to receive a reprimand, 
paying the fees, and promising to be more circumspect in future — for the 
purpose of obtaining his discharge. This case affords the most singular 
instance of the exercise of the doubtful power of punishing for what are 
called contempts on record. A court has unquestionably a right to 
protect itself from indignity while in session, and so has a legislative 
body, although the power of punishing for such an offense without trial 
by jury, is now gravely questioned. But for a legislative body to extend 
the mantle of its protection over its constituency in such a matter is an 
exercise of power of which, even in the annals of the Star Chamber, when 
presided over by Archbishop Laud, it is difficult to find a parallel. Sure 
it is that a people, then or now, who would elect such members to the 
Legislature deserve nothing else than contempt. From the establish- 
ment, however, of the independence of the country until the present day 
there has been no attempt to fetter the press by censors or by law, while 
the old English law of libel, which prevailed until the beginning of the 
present century, has been so modified as to allow the truth in all cases to 
be given in evidence. For the attainment of this great end the country 
is indebted, more than to all other men, to the early and bosom friend of 
the late venerable Dr. Nott — Alexander Hamilton. 

At length the incessant quarrels of the weak and avaricious Cosby 
with the people and their representatives was suddenly terminated by his 
death in March, 1780. On his decease, Mr. George Clarke, long a member 
of the Council, after a brief struggle with Mr. Van Dam for the presi- 
dency, succeeded to the'direction of the government, and, being shortly 
afterward commissioned as Lieutenant-Governor, continued at the 
head of the colonial administration from the autumn of 1786 to that of 
1743. Mr. Clarke was remotely connected by marriage with the family 
of Lord Clarendon, having been sent over as Secretary of the colony in 
the reign of Queen Anne. Being, moreover, a man of strong common 
sense and of uncommon tact, and by reason of his long residence in the 
colony, and the several official stations he had held, well acquainted with 
its affairs, his administration — certainly, until toward its close — was 
comparatively popular, and, all circumstances considered, eminently suc- 
cessful. In the brief struggle for power between himself and Mr. Van 
Dam, the latter had been sustained by the popular party, while the 



85 

officers of the Crown and the partisans of Cosby, with few, if any 
exceptions, adhered to Mr. Clarke. This difficulty, however, had been 
speedily ended by a royal confirmation of the somewhat doubtful author- 
ity assumed by Mr. Clarke. His own course, moreover, on taking the 
seals of office, was conciliatory. In his first speech to the General 
Assembly, he referred in temperate language to the unhappy divisions 
which had of late disturbed the colony, and which he thought it was 
then a favorable moment to heal. The English flour-market having been 
overstocked by large supplies furnished from the other colonies, the 
attention of the Assembly was directed to the expediency of encouraging 
domestic manufactures in various departments of industry. To the 
Indian affairs of the colony Mr. Clarke invited the special attention of 
the Assembly. The military works of Fort Hunter being in a dilapi- 
dated condition, and the object of affording protection to the Christian 
settlements through the Mohawk Valley having been accomplished, the 
Lieutenant-Governor suggested the erection of a new fort at the carry- 
ing-place between the Mohawk River and Wood Creek,* leading into 
Oneida Lake, and thence through the Oswego River into Lake Ontario ; 
and the transfer of the garrison from Port Hunter to this new and com- 
manding position. He likewise recommended the repairing of the block- 
house at Oswego, and the sending of smiths and other artificers into the 
Indian country, especially among the Senecas.f 

During the greater part of the year 1738 — if we except the estab- 
lishing of a quarantine on Bedloe's Island and the opening of Rector 
street — but little attention was paid to local affairs — the principal histori- 
cal incident of that year being the memorable contested election between 

* The site, afterward, of Fort Stanwix, now the opulent town of Rome. 

f In the course of this session of the General Assembly, Chief Justice De 
Lancey, Speaker of the Legislative Council, annoiinced that his duties in the Supreme 
Court would render it impossible for him to act as Speaker through the session. It 
was therefore ordered that the oldest Councillor present should thenceforward act as 
Speaker. Under this order, Dr. Cadwallader Colden first came to the chair. 

On the twenty-sixth of October, the Council resolved that they would hold 
their sittings in the common council chamber of the City Hall. The House imme- 
diately returned a message that they were holding their sessions, and should 
continue to hold them, in that chamber ; and that it was conformable to the consti- 
tution that 'the Council, in its legislative capacity, should sit as a distinct and separate 
body. During the same session, also, the Council having sent a message to the House 
by the hand of a deputy-clerk, a message was transmitted back, signifying that the 
House considered such a course disrespectful. Until that time messages had been 
conveyed between the Houses, with bills, resolutions, &c, by the hands of their 
members respectively. The House considered the sending of a clerk an innovation 
upon their privileges ; and Colonel Phillipse, Mr. Verplank, and Mr. Johnson were 
appointed a committee to wait upon the Council and demand satisfaction. The 
Council healed the matter by a conciliatory resolution, declaring that no disrespect 
had been intended. 



86 

Adolphe Pliilipse and Gerrel Van Home, in connection with which, 
owing- to the extraordinary skill and eloquence of Mr. Smith, father of 
the historian, and of counsel for Van Home, the Hebrew freeholders of 
the City of New York, from which place both parties claimed to have been 
returned to the Assembly, were most unjustly disfranchised, on the ground 
of their religion- creed, and their votes rejected. The colony was greatly 
excited by this question, and the persuasive powers exerted by Mr. Smith 
are represented to have been wonderful — equaling, probably, if not sur- 
passing, those of Andrew Hamilton, four years previously, in the great 
libel case of Zenger — and possibly not excelled even by Patrick Henry 
a few years afterward, when he dethroned the reason of the court, and 
led captive the jury, in the great tobacco ease in Virginia. 

The years 17."! s and 17:!'.'. were marked by increasing political ex- 
citement: and tlte dividing line of parties, involving the greai principles 
of civil liberty on the one side and the prerogatives of the Crown on the 
other, were more distinctly drawn, perhaps, than at any antecedent 
period. The administrations of the earlier English Governors. Nicholls 
and Lovelace, were benevolent and almost parental. Andross, it is true. 
was a tyrant : and during his administration parties were formed, as in 
England, upon the mixed questions of politics and religion, which 
dethroned the last and most bigoted of the Stuarts, and brought William 
and Mary upon the throne. Dongan, however, tlte last of the Stuart 
■mors in New York, although a Roman Catholic, was nevertheless 
mild in the administration of the government, and a gentleman in his 
feelings and manners. It was upon his arrival in the autumn of 1683, 
that the freeholders of the colony, as we have seen, were invested with 
thi 1 right of choosing representatives to meet the Governor in General 
Assembly. For nearly twenty years subsequent to the revolution of 
1689, the colony was torn by personal, rather than political factions, 
having their origin in the controversy which compassed the judicial 
murder of the unhappy Leisler and his son-in-law, Milburne. These 
tactions dying out in the lapse of years, other questions arose, the princi- 
pal of which was that important one which always, sooner or later. 
springs up in every English colony — involving, on the one hand, as I 
have already remarked, the rights of the people, and on the other the 
claims of the Crown. Invariably, almost, if not quite, the struggle is 
originated upon some question of revenue — either in the levying thereof. 
or in its disposition, or both. Tims in the origin of those political parties 
in New York, which continued with greater or less acrimony until the 
s paration from the parent country. Sloughter and Fletcher had both 
endeavored to obtain grants of revenue to the Crown for life, but had 
failed. Subsequently grants had been occasionally made to the officers 
of the Crown for a term of years: but latterly, especially during the 
administration of Governor Cosby, the General Assembly had grown more 



87 

refractory upon the subject — pertinaciously insisting that they would vote 
the salaries for the officers of the Crown only with the annual supplies. 
This was a principle which the Governors, as the representatives of the 
Crown, felt bound to resist, as being an infringement of the royal prerog« 
ative. Henceforward, therefore, until the colony cast off its allegiance, 
the struggle in regard to the revenue and its disposition, was almost per- 
petually before the people, in one form or another ; and in some years, 
owing to the obstinacy of the representatives of the Crown on one side, 
and the inflexibility of the representatives of the people on the other, 
supplies were not granted at all. Mr. Clarke, although he had the 
address to throw off, or to evade, the difficulty, for the space of two years, 
was nevertheless doomed soon to encounter it. Accordingly, in his speech 
to the Assembly at the autumnal session of 1738, he complained that 
another year had elapsed without any provision being made for the sup- 
port of his Majesty's government in the province — the neglect having 
occurred by reason of " a practice not warranted by the usage of any 
former General Assemblies." He therefore insisted strongly upon the 
adoption of measures for the payment of salaries; for the payment of 
public creditors ; and for the general security of the public credit by the 
creation of a sinking-fund for the redemption of the bills of the eolony. 

The Assembly was refractory. Instead of complying with the demands 
of the Lieutenant-Governor, the House resolved unanimously that they 
would grant no supplies upon that principle ; and in regard to a sinking 
fund for the redemption of the bills of credit afloat, they refused any 
other measure than a continuance of the existing excise. These spirited 
and peremptory resolutions gave high offense to the representative of the 
Crown ; and on the day following their adoption, the Assembly was sum- 
moned to the fort, and dissolved by a speech, declaring the said resolu- 
tions " to be such presumptuous, daring, and unprecedented steps that he 
could not look upon them but with astonishment, nor could he with honor 
suffer their authors to sit any longer.'' 

The temper of the new Assembly, summoned in the spring of the 
succeeding year, 1739, was no more in unison with the desires of the 
Lieutenant-Governor than that of the former. The demand for a perma- 
nent supply-bill was urged at several successive sessions, only to be met 
with obstinate refusals. The second session, held in the autumn, was 
interrupted in October, by a prorogation of several days, for the express 
purpose of affording the members leisure " to reflect seriously " upon the 
line of duty required of them by the exigencies of the country ; for, not 
only was the Assembly resolutely persisting in the determination to make 
only annual grants of supplies, but they were preparing to trench yet 
further upon the royal prerogative, by insisting upon specific applications 
of the revenue, to be inserted in the bill itself. Meantime, on the 
13th of October, the Lieutenant-Govenor brought the subject of his 



88 

differences with the Assembly formally before his privy council. In 
regard to the new popular movement of this Assembly, insisting upon a 
particular application of the revenues to be granted in the body of the 
act for the support of the government, the Lieutenant-Grovenor said they 
had been moved to that determination by the example of New Jersey, 
where an act of that nature had lately been passed. He was unwilling 
to allow any encroachment upon the rights of the Crown. Yet, in con- 
sideration of the defenseless situation of the colony, he felt uneasy at such 
a turn of affairs, and not being disposed to revive old animosities, or to 
create new ones by another summary dissolution, he asked the advice of 
the council. The subject was referred to a committee, of which the Hon. 
Daniel Horsmanden, an old member of the council, was chairman. This 
gentleman was one of the most sturdy supporters of the royal preroga- 
tive ; but, in consequence of the existing posture of affairs, and the 
necessity of a speedy provision for the public safety, the committee 
reported unanimously against a dissolution. They believed, also, that 
the Assembly, and the people whom they represented, had the disputed 
point so much at heart that it would be impossible to do business with 
them unless it was conceded; and besides, it was argued, should a 
dissolution take place, there was no reason for supposing that the next 
Assembly would be less tenacious in asserting the offensive principle. 
Since, moreover, the Governor of New Jersey had yielded the point, the 
committee advised the same course in New York.* The point was con- 
ceded ; and the effect, for the moment, was to produce a better state of 
feeling in the Assembly. Supplies were granted, but only for the year ; 
and various appropriations were made for placing the city and colony in 
a posture of defense. 

But it is seldom that the wheels of revolution roll backward, and 
the concession which allowed the General Assembly to prescribe the 
application or disposition of the supplies they voted, ever before claimed 
as the legal and known prerogative of the Crown, appeased the popular 
party only for a very short time. Indeed, nothing is more certain, 
whether in monarchies or republics, than that the governed are never 

*See the old minutes of the executive or privy council, in manuscript, in the 
Secretary of State's office in Albany. To avoid confusion hereafter, it may be -well 
to state in this connection, that the Council acted in a two-fold capacity : first, as 
advisary, second, as legislative. "In the first," says Smith, in his chapter, entitled 
Political State, " they are a privy council to the G-overnor." When thus acting they 
are often called the executive or majesty's council. Hence, privy council and exe- 
cutive council are synonymous. During the session of the legislature, however, the 
same council sat (without the presence of the G-overnor) as a legislative council ; and 
in such capacity exercised the same functions as the Senate of the present day — so 
far as regards the passing of laws. The journals of this last or legislative council 
have recently been published by the State of New York under admirable editorship 
and the supervision of Dr. E. B. O'Callaghan. 



89 

satisfied with concessions, while each successful demand only increases 
the popular clamor for more. Thus it was in the experience of Mr. 
Clarke. It is true, indeed, that the year 1740 passed without any 
direct collision upon the question of prerogative ; although at the second 
short session of that year, the speech alleged the entire exhaustion of the 
revenue, and again demanded an ample appropriation for a term of years. 
But the controversy was reopened at the spring session of the following 
year — 1741 — on which occasion the Lieutenant-Governor delivered a 
speech, long beyond precedent, and enumerating the grievances of the 
Crown by reason of the continued encroachments of the General Assem- 
bly. The speech began by an elaborate review of the origin and progress 
of the difficulties that had existed between the representatives of the 
Crown and the Assembly, in respect to the granting of supplies, evincing 
— such, indeed, is the inference — a want of gratitude on the part of the 
latter, in view of the blessings which the colony had enjoyed under the 
paternal care of the Government since the revolution of 1688. But it was 
not in connection with the supplies, only, that the Assembly had invaded 
the rights of the Crown. It was the undoubted prerogative of the Crown 
to appoint the Treasurer. Yet the Assembly had demanded the election 
of that officer. Not satisfied with that concession, they had next claimed 
the right of choosing the Auditor-General. Failing in that demand, they 
had sought to accomplish their object by withholding the salary from that 
officer. These encroachments, he said, had been gradually increasing from 
year to year, until apprehensions had been seriously awakened in Eng- 
land " that the plantations are not without thoughts of throwing off their 
dependence on the Crown." He, therefore, admonished the Assembly to do 
away with such an impression " by giving to Ids Majesty such a revenue, 
and in such a manner, as will enable him to pay his own officers and 
servants," as had been done from the Revolution down to the year 1709 
— during which period the colony was far less able to bear the burden 
than now."* 

Thus early and deeply were those principles striking root in America, 
which John Hampden had asserted and poured out his blood to defend, 
in the great ship-money contest with Charles I — which brought that 
unhappy monarch to the block — and which — fulfilling the apprehensions 
of Mr. Clarke — thirty-five years afterward, separated the colonies from 
the British Crown — although in the answer of the House to the " insinua- 
tion of a suspicion" of a desire for independence, with real or affected 
gravity, they " vouched that not a single person in the colony had any 
such thoughts ;" adding — " for under what government can we be better 
protected, or our liberties or properties so well secured '?" 

*Vide Journals of the Colonial Assembly, vol. 1, Hugh Gains' edition. This 
(1741) was the year in which the chapel, barracks, Secretary's office, &c, at Fort 
George (the Battery) were burnt, and the speech referred to in the text asked an 
apropriation for their rebuilding — but without success. 



90 

But the popularity of Mr. Clarke was rapidly on the wane. Chief 
Justice De Lancy, the master-spirit of the Council, having rather aban- 
doned him, and attached himself to the popular party, managed to preserve 
a considerate coolness on the part of that body toward their executive head, 
while the House heeded but little his recommendations. 

The only subject of local excitement, however, during the year 1741, 
was the celebrated plot supposed to have been discovered on the part of 
the negroes, to murder the inhabitants of New York, and ravage and 
burn the city — an affair which reflects little credit either upon the dis- 
cernment or the humanity of that generation. 

African slavery had existed from an early period in New Netherland. 
It was encouraged as the most certain and economical way of introducing 
slavery in a new country, where there was no surplus population. 
The slave-trade was brought into the Dutch Colony by the Dutch 
West India Company, and, shortly after its introduction, became a con- 
siderable and profitable branch of its shipping interest. A "prime 
slave 1 ' was valued from one hundred and twenty dollars to one hundred 
and fifty dollars, and below this price he could not profitably be purchased 
from Africa or the West Indies. In 1702, there were imported one hun- 
dred and sixty-five African slaves; in 1718, five hundred and seventeen. 
After that year, however, the traffic began to fall off, the natural 
increase being large.* 

As far back as 1628, slaves constituted a portion of the population 
of New Amsterdam ; and to such an extent had the traffic in them 
reached, that, in 1709, a slave-market was erected at the foot of Wall 
street, where all negroes who were to be hired or sold stood, in readiness 
for bidders. Their introduction into the colony was hastened by the 
colonial establishment of the Dutch in Brazil and upon the coast of 
Guinea, and also by the capture of Spanish and Portuguese prizes with 
Africans on board. The Boere-knechts, or servants, whom the settlers 
brought over with them from Holland, soon deserted their field-work for 
the fur traffic, thus causing European laborers to become scarce and 
high ; and, as a natural result, slaves, by their cheapness, became one of 
the staples of the new country. In 1652, the Directors at Amsterdam 
removed the export duty of eight per cent., which had been hitherto paid 
by the colonists on tobacco. The passage-money to New Netherland 
was also lessened from fifty to thirty guilders ; and besides trading to the 

* Almost every family in the colony owned one or more negro servants ; and 
among the richer clashes their number was considered a certain evidence of their 
master's easy circumstances. About the year 1703 — a perioi of prosperity in wealth 
and social refinement with the Dutch of New Amsterdam —the Widow Van Cort- 
landt held five male slaves, two female, and two children ; Colonel De Peyster had 
the same number; "William Beekman, two ; Rip Van Dam, six ; Mrs. Stuyvesant, five ; 
Mrs. Kip, seven ; David Provoostd, three, etc. 



91 

Brazils, the settlers were allowed " to sail to the coast of Angola and 
Africa to procure as many negroes as they might be willing to employ."* 

Several outbreaks had already happened among the negroes of New 
Amsterdam ; and the whites lived in constant anticipation of trouble and 
danger from them. Rumors of an intended insurrection, real or imaginary, 
would circulate (as in the negro plot of 1712), and the whole city be 
thrown into a state of alarm. Whether there was any real danger on 
these occasions, cannot be known, but the result was always the same, 
viz. : the slaves always suffered, many dying by the fagot or the gallows. 

The " Negro Plot" of 1741, however, forms a serious and bloody 
■chapter in the history of New York. At this distance of time it is hard 
to discover the truth amid the fears and prejudices which attended 
that public calamity. The city then contained some ten thousand 
inhabitants, about one-fifth of whom were African slaves, called the 
" black seed of Cain.'' Many of the laws for their government were 
most unjust and oppressive. Whenever three of them were found 
together they were liable to be punished by forty lashes on the bare 
back, and the same penalty followed their walking with a club outside 
of their master's grounds without a permit. Two justices could inflict 
any punishment except amputation or death, for any blow or assault by a 
slave upon a Christian or a Jew. Such was the outrageous law. New York 
swarmed with negroes, and her leading merchants were engaged in the 
slave trade, at that time regarded fair and honorable. New York then 
resembled a Southern city, with its calaboose on the Park Commons and 
its slave market at the foot of Wall street. 

The burning of the public buildings, comprising the Governor's 
residence, the Secretary's office, the chapel and barracks, in March, 1741, 
was first announced to the General Assembly by the Lieutenant-Governor 
as the result of an accident — a plumber who had been engaged upon some 
repairs having left fire in a gutter between the house and chapel. But 
several other fires occurring shortly afterward in different parts of the 
city, some of them, perhaps, under circumstances that could not readily 
be explained, suspicions were awakened that the whole were acts of 
incendiaries. Not a chimney caught fire — and they were not at that day 
very well swept — but the incident was attributed to design. Such was 
the case in respect to the chimney of Captain Warren's house, situated 
near the ruins of the public buildings, by the taking fire of which the 
roof was partially destroyed ; and other instances might be enumerated. 
Suspicion, to borrow the language of Shakspeare, " hath a ready tongue," 
and is " all stuck full of eyes," which are not easily put to sleep. Inci- 

* In the year 1755 a census of slaves was taken in all the colonies except 
Albany, New York, and Suffolk. Borough numbered 91 ; Manor of Pelham, 24 ; 
Westchester, 73 ; Bush wick, 43 ; Flatbush, 35 ; New Utrecht, G7 ; Newtown, 87 
Oyster-Bay, 97 ; etc., etc. 



92 

dents and circumstances, ordinary and extraordinary, were seized upon 
and brought together by comparison, until it became obvious to all that 
there was actually a conspiracy for compassing such a stupendous act of 
arson as the burning of the entire town and murder of the people. Nor 
was it long before the plot was fastened upon the negro slaves, then 
forming no inconsiderable portion of the population. A negro, with 
violent gesticulation, had been heard to^ utter some terms of unintelligible 
jargon, in which the words " fire, fire, scorch, scorch," were heard articu- 
lated, or supposed to be heard. The crew of a Spanish ship brought 
into the port as a prize, were sold into slavery. They were suspected of 
disaffection — as well they might be, and yet be innocent — seized and thrown 
into prison. Coals were found disposed, as was supposed, for burning a 
hay-stack ; a negro had been seen jumping over a fence and flying from 
a house that had taken fire in another place, and in a word a vast variety 
of incidents, trifling and unimportant, were collated and talked over 
until universal consternation seized upon the inhabitants, from the 
highest to the lowest. As Hume remarks of the Popish plot in the reign 
of Charles II, " each breath of rumor made the people start with anxiety ; 
their enemies, they thought, were in their bosoms. They were awakened 
from their slumbers by the cry of Plot, and like men affrighted and in 
the dark, took every figure for a specter. The terror of each man became 
a source of terror to another, and an universal panic being diffused ; 
reason, and argument, and common sense, and common humanity, lost 
all influence over them."* A Titus Oates was found in the person of a 
poor weak servant-girl in a sailor's boarding-house, named Mary Burton, 
who, after much importunity, confessed that she had heard certain negroes 
in the preceding February, conferring in private, for the purpose of 
setting the town on fire. She at first confined the conspirators to blacks, 
but afterward several white persons were included, among whom were 
her landlord, whose name was Hughson, his wife, another maid-servant, 
and a Roman Catholic, named Ury. Some other information was obtained 
from other informers, and numerous arrests were made, and the several 
strong apartments in the City Hall, called " the jails," were crowded with 
prisoners, amounting in number to twenty-six whites and above one hund- 
red and sixty slaves. Numerous executions took place upon the most 
frivolous and unsatisfactory testimony, but jurors and magistrates were 
alike panic-stricken and wild with terror. Among the sufferers were 
Hughson, his wife, [and the maid-servant, as also the Romanist Ury, 
who was capitally accused, not only as a conspirator, but for officiating 
as a priest, upon an old law of the colony, heretofore mentioned as having 
been passed at the instance of Governor Bellamont, to drive the French 

* Quoted by Dunlap, who has given a good collection of facts respecting this 
remarkable plot, though not rendered into a well-digested narrative. See chap, 
xxi. of his History. 



93 

missionaries from among the Indians. " The whole summer was spent 
in the prosecutions ; every new trial led to further accusations ; a coinci- 
dence of slight circumstances was magnified by the general terror into 
violent presumptions ; tales collected without doors, mingling with the 
proofs given at the bar, poisoned the minds of the jurors, and this san- 
guinary spirit of the day suffered no check until Mary, the capital 
informer, bewildered by frequent examinations and suggestions, began 
to touch characters which malice itself dared not suspect." Then, as in 
the case of the Popish plot and the prosecutions for witchcraft in Salem, 
the magistrates and jurors began to pause. But not until manyJiad 
been sent to their final account by the spirit of fanaticism which had 
bereft men of their reason, as innocent of the charges laid against them 
as the convicting courts and jurors themselves. Thirteen negroes were 
burnt at the stake, eighteen were hanged, and seventy transported.* 

The year 1742, if for no other reason, is memorable in the annals 
of the city from the fact that in that year was built the house now stand- 
ing on the site of No. 1 Broadway, now known as the Washington 
Hotel, and the oldest house in the City of New York. Previous to this 
year (1742) the site was occupied by an old tavern kept by a Mrs. Kocks, 
built a century previous by her husband, Pieter Kocks, an officer in 
the Dutch service and an active leader in the Indian war of 1693. Mr. 
David T. Valentine — to whom New York is indebted more than to any 
other man for the preservation of its local history, and for which she can 
never be sufficiently grateful — usually remarkably accurate, states that 
the building, No. 1 Broadway, was built by Archibald Kennedy (after- 
ward Earl of Cassilis), then Collector of the Port of New York. This, 
however, is an error. It was built by Sir Peter, afterward Admiral, 
Warren, f K. B. — whose name is so identified with the naval glory of 
England, during his residence in New York City. Neither pains nor 
expense were spared to make it one of the finest mansions in this coun- 
try. The plans were all sent out from Lisbon — the exterior and interior 



* Daniel Horsmanden, the third Justice of the Supreme Court, published the 
history of this strange affair in a ponderous quarto. He was concerned in the 
administration of the judicial proceedings, however, and wrote his history before 
the delusion had passed away. Chief-Justice De Lancey presided at least at some 
of the trials, and he, too, though an able and clear-minded man, was carried away 
by the delusion. James De Lancey was the son of Stephen De Lancey, a French 
Huguenot gentleman from Caen, in Normandy, who fled from persecution in France. 
Settling in New York in 1686, he married a daughter of M. Van Courlandt, and 
was thus connected with one of the most opulent families in the province. He was 
also an active member of the House of Assembly during the administration of Gov- 
ernor Hunter. His son James was sent to Cambridge University (England), for his 
education, and bred to the profession of the law. On being elevated to the bench, such 
were his talents and application, he became a very profound lawyer. — Smith. 
f After whom Warren street is named. 



94 

being similar in every respect to that of the British ambassador residing 
at the Portu 'uese capital. The house was fifty-six feet on Broadway, and 
when erected, the rear of the lot was bounded by the North River. 
Greenwich street was not then opened or built — the North River washing 
the shore. One room of this edifice deserves particular notice, being the 
banqueting-room, twenty-six by forty, and used on all great. occasions- 
After the British forces captured New York, in the war of the American 
Revolution, as the most prominent house, it was the headquarters of 
the distinguished British commanders. Sir William Howe, Sir Henry 
Clinton, and Sir Guy Carlton, afterward Lord Dorchester, all in succes- 
sion occupied this house ; and it is a memorable fact that the celebrated 
Major Andre, then Adjutant-General of the British forces, and aid to 
Sir Henry Clinton, resided in this house, being in the family of Sir 
Henry, and departed from its portals never to return, when he went up 
the North River and arranged his treasonable project with the traitor 
Arnold at West Point. 

The administration of Lieutenant-Governor Clarke was ended in the 
autumn of 1743, by the arrival of Admiral George Clinton, uncle of the 
Earl, of Lincoln, and a younger son of the late Earl, who had been 
appointed to the government of New York through the interest of hi& 
friends, to afford him an opportunity of mending his fortunes. Mr. 
Clarke, who, in the commencement of his administration, had succeeded 
m conciliating the leaders of both political parties, had contrived before' 
the close of his career to lose the confidence of both, so that his retire- 
ment from the Government was regarded with universal satisfaction.* 
Especially had he incurred the resentment of the Chief-Justice, De 
Lancey ; who, strangely enough, though usually a staunch supporter of 
the prerogatives of the Crown, had now became, to some extent, a favor- 

* George Clarke, Esq., who, in various official stations, was for almost half a 
century connected with the colonial government of New York, was an Englishman 
by birth. " His uncle, Mr. Blaithwait, procured the Secretaryship of the colony 
for him early in the reign of Queen Anne. He had genius, but no other than a 
common writing-school education; nor did he add to his stock by reading, for he 
was more intent upon improving his fortune than his mind. He was sensible, artful, 
active, cautious ; had a perfect command of his temper, and was in his address 
specious and civil. Nor was any man better acquainted with the colony and its 
affairs." He successively held the offices of Secretary, Clerk of thj Council, Coun- 
cillor, and Lieutenant-Governor ; and from his official position he had every oppor- 
tunity of enriching himself by obtaining grants and patents of land, which, from 
his knowledge of the colony, he was enabled to choose in the most advantageous 
locations. He was a courtier, and was careful never to differ with the governors of 
the colony ; although during Cosby's stormy career he usually kept himself quiet 
at his country villa upon the edge of Hempstead plains. "His lady was a Hyde, 
a woman of fine accomplishments, and a distant relation of that branch of the 
Clarendon family. She died in New York. Mr. Clarke returned to England in 
1745, with acquisitions estimated at one hundred thousand pounds. He purchased 



95 

ite of the General Assembly. The new Governor had spent most of 
his life in the navy ; and, according to the earliest English historian of 
New York, " preferring ease and good cheer to the restless activity of 
ambition, there wanted nothing to engage the interest of his powerful 
patrons in his favor, more than to humor a simple-hearted man, who had 
no ill-nature, nor sought anything more than a genteel frugality and 
common civility while he was mending those fortunes, until his friends at 
court could recall him to some indolent and more lucrative station." 

Mr. Clinton arrived in New York on the -22d of Septemberr 
and was received with demonstrations of universal satisfaction by the 
people. Finding that the General Assembly stood adjourned to meet in, 
a few days, and ascertaining that the people would be pleased with an 
opportunity of holding a new election, the Assembly was dissolved on 
the twenty-seventh, and writs for the return of another Assembly issued 
the same day. The elections were conducted without political acrimony, 
and all the old members, with but seven exceptions, were returned. The 
session opened on the 8th of November. Meantime, the Governor 
had fallen into the hands of De^Lancey, who doubtless had the moulding 
of his excellency's speech. Its tone was conciliatory, although the 
sore subject of a permanent revenue was opened afresh. But this was 
done in gentle terms, the Governor asking for a grant " in as ample a 
manner, and for a time as long as had been given under any of his 
predecessors." The Assembly was informed that, owing to the critical 
state of affairs in Europe, and the doubtful attitude in which Great 
Britain and France stood toward each other, a large supply of military 
stores for the defense of the colony had been received from the parent 
government ; and the Governor hoped the Assembly would show their 
thankfulness by making an adequate provision for the purchase of 
others. The usual recommendations in regard to the Indian intercourse 
of the colony were renewed, and an appropriation was asked for rebuild- 
ing the barracks and public offices, together with the house of the Gov- 
ernor, which had been destroyed by fire. The latter recommendation 
was insisted on as being necessary for the comfort of the Governor's 
family. 

an estate in Cheshire, where he died about the year 1761. George Clarke, his 
grand-son, and the heir to his estates, after a residence in America of about thirty- 
five years, died at Otsego about the year 1835. His eldest son, George Hyde Clarke* 
with his young wife, was lost in the ship Albion, wrecked on the coast of Ireland, 
in the summer of 182t\ on his passage from New York to England. His second 
son then returned to England and entered into possession of the fortune of his 
father's estates situated in that country. By the vast increase in price of his Amer- 
ican lands, Mr. Clarke's estates in this country became of princely value before his 
death. They are inherited by his youngest son, George Clarke, Esq., who at present 
resides in the noble mansion erected by his father a few years before his decease, upon 
the margin of Otsego Lake. 



96 

" An humble address " was voted by the Council in reply, drawn up 
by De Lancey. The appointment of the new Governor was received " as 
an additional evidence of his Majesty's affection for his people, and his 
zeal for the liberty of mankind, lately most evidently demonstrated in 
his exposing his sacred person to the greatest dangers in defense of the 
liberty of Europe." In all other respects the answer was an echo of the 
speech. The address of the House was more than an echo ; it was 
couched in language of excessive flattery to the new Governor, and of 
fawning adulation toward the sovereign, who was designated " the 
darling of his own people, and the glorious preserver of the liberties of 
Europe." There was, however, a disposition on all sides to be pleased. 
The Assembly responded to the demanded appropriations, voting the 
Governor fifteen hundred pounds for his salary, one hundred pounds for 
house-rent, four hundred pounds for fuel and candles, one hundred and 
fifty pounds to enable him to visit the Indians, and eight hundred pounds 
for the purchase of presents to be distributed amongst them. Other 
appropriations were made upon a scale of corresponding liberality ; and 
the Governor was so well pleased with the good temper of the Assembly, 
that he signed every bill presented for his approbation, without a 
murmur of disapprobation, not even excepting the supply-bill, which, 
notwithstanding his demand to the contrary, in the opening speech, was 
limited to the year. 

But, notwithstanding these reciprocal manifestations of good feeling ; 
and notwithstanding also the amiable traits of the Governor's natural 
disposition, it will be seen in the progress of events that the bluff char- 
acteristics of the sailor were not always to be concealed ; and his admin- 
istration, in process of time, became as tempestuous as the element upon 
which he was certainly more at home than upon the land. 

Advices of the intended invasion of his majesty's dominions, in 
behalf of a " Popish Pretender,'' were communicated to the General 
Assembly of New York by Governor Clinton, in April, 1744. In con- 
nection with this anticipated act of hostility, which would of course 
extend to the contiguous colonies of the two countries, efficient measures 
were urged for placing the country in a posture of defense. The temper 
of the colony, in regard to this movement of France, may be inferred 
from the immediate action of the Assembly. In the Council, Chief-Justice 
De Lancy, in moving an address of thanks for the speech, offered also 
a resolution expressive of the abhorrence of that body of the designs of 
France in favor of the Pretender, and declaring that the civil and religi- 
ous rights of his majesty's subjects depended on the Protestant succesion. 
The House was invited to join in the address, which request, though a 
very unusual procedure, was readily acquiesced in, and the address was 
prepared by a joint committee of the two houses. Prom all this it was 
evident that a war was very near at hand, and that the frontiers of the 



97 

colony might again, very soon, be subjected to the ravages of a foe than 
whose tender mercies nothing could be more cruel. 

In 1746, the small-pox drove the Assembly from the city to Green- 
wich ; but soon appearing there, also, produced a panic that for several 
days entirely arrested the course of business. The Assembly prayed for 
a recess from the 9th of March to the 12th of April, and also for leave to 
adjourn their sittings to some other place. Jamaica and Brooklyn were 
suggested ; but in the opinion of the Governor the demands of the pub- 
lic service forbade so long an interregnum, and he therefore directed their 
adjournment for a week, to meet in the borough of Westchester. They 
convened there accordingly ; but the inconvenience of the locality was such 
that the members begged permission to adjourn even back to the infected 
city again, rather than remain where they were. In the end the 
Governor directed them to transfer their sittings to Brooklyn, at which 
place the transaction of business was resumed on the 20th of March, when 
an address to the Governor was ordered to be prepared, in answer to that 
of the Council respecting the rejection of the before-mentioned revenue- 
bill. 

Before the introduction of the bill, the Assembly had inquired of the 
Governor whether he had any objection to an emission of paper money 
to meet the exigencies of the country ; to which question the proper 
answer was given by Mr. Clinton, that " when the bill came to him he 
would declare his opinion." The bill was therefore introduced and 
passed by the Assembly ; but the Council, disapproving of certain of its 
provisions, requested a conference. The Assembly, however, declared 
that inasmuch as it was a money bill, they would consent to no such course 
upon the subject. The Council thereupon summarily rejected the bill, and 
sent up an address to the Governor, written by the Chief Justice, 
De Lancey, setting forth their reasons, by which their course had been 
governed. One of the objections to the bill, according to this representa- 
tion, was found in the fact, " that the money proposed to be raised by the 
bill was not granted to his Majesty, or to be issued by warrants in council, 
as it ought to have been, and as has usually been done." This objection 
involved the old question of the royal prerogative — nothing more. On 
the subject of the right claimed by the Assembly of exclusive power over 
the details of money bills, the address asserted " the equal rights of the 
Council to exercise their judgments upon these bills." Various other 
objections of detail were suggested ; but the two points specified above; 
were the only grounds of principle upon which the Council relied in justi- 
fication of its course. Yet the unreasonableness of the assumption of the 
House, that the Council should not be allowed even to point out and rectify 
the defects of anything which they chose to call a money bill, was argued 
at considerable length. 

There was yet another cause of irritation on the part of the House 

7 



98 

So early as the year 1709, the General Assembly had found it necessary, in 
providing- ways and means for the public service — especially in the prose- 
cution of the several wars in which the colony had been involved by the 
parent government — to issue a paper currency called bills of credit. The 
operation had been repeated from time to time, in emergent cases — some- 
times with the approbation of the Crown, and sometimes not — until these 
paper issues had become a part of the policy of the colony. Others of 
the colonies, laboring under the same necessities, bad resorted to the same 
measures of finance ; but to which the Crown, jealous of its prerogative 
in all matters of currency, had uniformly been opposed. For many years, 
therefore, antecedent to this period, the royal governors had arrived in 
the colony clothed with instructions against allowing farther emissions of 
bills of credit — instructions, however, which the stern law of necessity 
had seldom allowed them to enforce. Still, the Crown, keenly alive to every 
step of independent action on the part of the colonies, was persisting in 
its war against a colonial currency even of paper ; and a bill was now 
before parliament, upon the subject, which gave great alarm to the people. 
Professedly, its design was merely for preventing these bills of credit 
from being made a legal tender ; but it was discovered that the bill was 
to have a far more extensive operation — " obliging and enjoining the 
legislatures of every colony to pay strict obedience to all such orders and 
instructions as might from time to time be transmitted to them, or any of 
them, by his majesty or his successors, or by or under his or their 
authority." Such an act, it was justly held, " would establish an absolute 
power in the Crown, in all the British plantations, that would be inconsis- 
tent with the liberties and privileges inherent in an English man, while he 
is in a British dominion." 

Incensed at this stubborness on the part of his little parliament^ 
the sailor-Governor determined, in the Assembly, which met on the Pit 1 
of October, 1748, to reassert the prerogative in the strongest terms, by 
bringing the subject of a permanent supply to a direct issue ; choosing, 
as Mr. Bancroft has remarked, New York " as the opening scene in the 
final contest that led to independence." Accordingly, on the 14th he sent 
down his message to thehouse, in which he demanded p permanent support 
for five years. The message stated that on coming to the administration 
of the government, he had been disposed to do all he could, consistently 
with his duty to the king, for the care and satisfaction of the people. 
Hence, reposing confidence in the advice then given him, he had given 
his assent to various acts of the Assembly, the tendency of which, as 
experience had taugbt him, was to weaken the authority of his majesty's 
government. Still, as the country was very soon afterward involved in 
war, he had forborne to take that attitude in the premi es which duty to 
his sovereign seemed to require. But with the return of peace, he deemed 
it to be his indispensable duty to put a stop to such innovations. Promi- 



99 

nent among these wasthe practice which had been growing up, of making 
only an annual provision for the payment of the officers of the Government. 
He also alluded to tho modern practice of naming the officers for whose 
benefit the appropriations were made in the act, thus interfering with the 
prerogative in the appointing honor. He admonished the Assembly that 
he should give his assent to no acts of that character for the future ; and 
demanded an appropriation for the payment of the Governor's secretaries, 
judges, and other salaried officers, for the term of five years, according to 
the practice that had prevailed during the administration of his four 
immediate predecessors, namely, Governors Hunter, Burnett, Mont- 
gomery, and Cosby. The inconvenience of these annual grants of salaries 
and allowances was adverted to, and objections further urged against the 
recent method of intermixing matters of an entirely different nature with 
the provisions of the salary-bills, and tacking new grants for other pur- 
poses to the Governor's own support. 

The Assembly, in its reply, justly regarding the request for a perma- 
nent supply as a direct attempt to render the Crown independent of the 
people, with great indignation refused to grant it. As to the more 
recent practice of naming the officers provided for in the salary bills, it 
not only justified it, but intimated that if this course had been adopted at 
an earlier day, his Excellency would not have been able to remove the 
third Justice of the Supreme Court " without any color of misconduct" 
on his part — who was " a gentleman of learning and experience in the 
law.*" The result can readily be seen. After continual bickerings for 
several weeks, Mr. Clinton, in great wrath, prorogued the Assembly. 

Thus the parties separated, and thus again commenced that great 
struggle between the Republican and Monarchal principle, which in the 
'mward progress of the former was destined at a day not even then far 
distant, to work such mighty results in the Western Hemisphere. 

Although, from a very early date in the history of this protracted 
controversy, it became inexcusably personal, yet it is not difficult to per- 
ceive that it was in reality one of principle. On the one hand, the infant 
Hercules, though still in his cradle, was becoming impatient of restraint. 
The yoke of colonial servitude chafed the necks, if not of the people, at 
least of their representatives. The royal Governor was not slow to per- 
ceive what kind of leaven was fermenting the body-politic ; and hence he 
became perhaps over-jealous in asserting and defending the prerogatives 
of his master. Doubtless, in the progress of the quarrel, there were 
faults on both sides. Of an irascible and overbearing temperament, and 
accustomed in his profession to command rather than to persuade, he was 
ill-qualified to exercise a limited or concurrent power with a popular 

* Alluding to the removal, the year before, of Justice Horsmanden. This act 
•was again imputed to the influence of " a person of a mean and despicable charac- 
ter" — meaning, as it was well understood, Dr. Colden. 



100 

Assembly equally jealous of its own privileges and of the liberties of the 
people ; watching with sleepless vigilance for every opportunity to 
circumscribe the influence of the Crown ; and ready at every moment to 
resist the encroachments of arbitrary power. Still, however patriotic the 
motives, under the promptings of De Lancey, their opposition to Mr. 
Clinton became factious ; and it is not difficult even for a republican to 
believe that he was treated, not only with harshness, but with great 
injustice, especially in regard to his measures, and his personal exertions 
for the public defense and the prosecution of the Indian war. 

At length, worn out in health and spirits by his struggle against a 
powerful opposition, Clinton, in 1753, sent in his resignation to the home 
government, and Sir James Osborne was appointed in his stead.. 

The character of Mr. Clinton has not, I think, been fairly drawn. 
Those upon whose opinions his character rests, were persons living at 
the same day, and who, influenced by party strife, were not in a position 
to judge impartially. He was an uncouth and unlettered Admiral, who 
had been, through the Newcastle interest, appointed to the chair of Gov- 
ernor. He was evidently unsuited to his position ; and his former pro- 
fession, in which he had always been accustomed to command, illy fitted 
him to brave the rebuffs and the opposition of party faction. His 
manner, too, was not such as to win friends. Having to depend entirely 
upon the advice of those around him, he was often the dupe of those 
better versed in the arts of diplomacy than himself. But I look in vain 
for that love of ease, to the neglect of his official duties, of which he is 
accused by his enemies. On the contrary, although he relied too much 
on the advice of others for his own good, yet it was caused more by a 
consciousness of a lack of education, than by a desire to shirk action. 
In the care of the Indians he was indefatigable, as appears by his large 
correspondence with Colonel, afterwards Sir Win. Johnson, and the offi- 
cers of the different frontier posts. He labored incessantly with his 
Assembly to make them realize the condition of the colony ; and had 
they met his views half-way, or even manifested a tithe of his energy, 
the Province of New York would not have presented such an inviting 
field for the encroachments of the French. He is accused of amassing 
by unfair means a large fortune while Governor, yet he freely advanced 
out of his private purse large sums for the exigencies of the Indian 
affairs, and many times saved the Six Nations from defection, and the 
province from the horrors of a pi'edatory warfare, when it was impossi- 
ble to rouse the Assembly to a sense of danger. Indeed, I think it may 
safely be said, that had it not been for the untiring efforts of Mr. Clinton 
and Colonel Johnson, the Six Nations would have been completely won 
over by the French, and the fire-brand and tomahawk carried down to 
the very gates of New York. 

Meanwhile, several public edifices had been erected, and various 



101 

improvements taken place in the city. In 1747, the Presbyterian Church 
in Wall street, which had been erected by Hunter, was rebuilt. "In 
the course of the next two years, Beekman and the contiguous streets 
were regulated. Ferry street was ceded to the city ; Beekman, Dey, and 
Thames streets were paved ; Pearl street was dug down near Peck Slip, 
and graded from Franklin Square to Chatham street ; and John street was 
paved and regulated. In 1751, a Moravian Chapel was built in Fulton 
street ; the following year, the first Merchants' Exchange was erected at 
the foot of Broad street ; and St. George's Chapel was built by Trinity 
Church on the corner of Cliff and Beekman, and was consecrated on the 
1st of July by the Rev. Mr. Barclay, a former missionary among the 
Mohawks, but now the rector of Trinity Church. This building yet 
remains in good preservation, and is well known as one of the few original 
landmarks. This is, next to the Post-Office, the oldest church edifice 
now standing in the city, and its quaint old chandeliers, and aisles flagged 
with gray stone, still remain as relics of days of yore." Washington, it 
is said, was a frequent attendant of this church during his residence in 
this city in the early part of the Revolutionary War.* But alas ! this 
old landmark is about to share the fate of so many other structures of a 
similar character, and is to be torn down to make room for another altar 
to the god Mammon. Workmen are, as we write, employed in removing 
the wood-work and other articles of furniture, preparatory to the destruc- 
tion of the church. It is said that the owners of the vaults underneath 
the sacristy are about to contest the right of the recent sale in the courts ; 
but their efforts will probably have little effect in saving the doomed 
building from the grasp of sacrilegious hands. In speaking of the 
history of this edifice, a writer in the New York World, of March 17th, 
1868, recalls the following interesting facts : 

" One hundred and twenty years ago, New York City had not attained its 
majority, and Bi'oadway was but a cow-path above Canal street. The Right Honor- 
able George Clinton, ' Captain-General and Governor-in-Chief in and over the 
Province of New York and the Territories thereon, Depending in America, Vice- 
Admiral of the Same, and Vice-Admiral of the Red Squadron of His Majesty's 
Fleet,' as that most doughty and right honorable personage was wont to sign himself 
in proclamations to the fat burghers of New York, sat in the chair now filled by 
Reuben E. Fenton. In that day, New York City was a nest for privateers, which 
sailed hence to destroy French and Spanish commerce. According as their destina- 
tion might be, these vessels, with a fair quantity of rum, molasses, and sea-provisions, 
would be piloted to the Hook, and there take on board an India, Mediterranean, or 

* Another important event occurred at this time, which should not be omitted 
by one who attempts to give a history of the city — inasmuch as it gives us the 
origin of the yearly appropriation made by the Common Council for the City Manual, 
viz.: that in 1747 the Common Council appropriated four pounds for the publication 
of fifty copies of An, Essay on the Duties of Vestrymen/ Some ill-natured cynic 
may here suggest that it would have been better if the Common Council had con- 
fined themselves to publications of a similar kind. 



109 

other pilot, to carry them to their destination. Small negro boys and Jamaica men 
in parcels were sold at auction where now the Custom-House roars its lofty pillars. 
Maria Theresa, Empress of Austria and Queen of Bohemia and Hungaria, wielded 
the scepter of the Ca rge the Second, Fides Defensor, twiddled his thumbs 

in Windsor Park and played bowls with Ids Hanoverian mistresses; and wheal was 
six shillings a bushel; flour, eighteen shillings a hundred; beef, forty shilllinga a 
barrel; West India rum, three and eight pence a gallon; sail, thro* 1 shillings a 
bushel; and single-refined sugar, one and ' tuppence ' a pound in New STork City. 
Manns Carroll had boon hung at the old powder-house, which still stands on an 
eminence at the upper end of the Central Park, for a cruel and most ' un-Christian'- 
like murder which ho had committed two years before in Albany, thou a thriving 
town. Counterfeiters were at that time amenable to the death-penalty, and the 
Barnum of that day exhibited wax-tigures in Dock street, and the editor of the New 
York Weekly Post Boy was in the habit of receiving presents of baskets of Bermuda 
potatoes from the mast - E V* -sols bound into the goodly port of New York. One 
day the editor received a potato weighing seven pounds from the master of the Ghod 
^ from Plumb Island, in the far-off ' Bermoothes,' and. out of sheer joy at the 
prodigy, he went and made himself drunk on ' arrack-punch,' the most aristocratic 
tipple of our forefathers" days. The City and County of Xew York had at that early 
day a population of twelve thousand, two thousand of which number were negroes- 

" On the loth of April, 1748, a number of gentlemen met in the vestry of King's 
Chapel or Trinity Church, then situated where the present church stands in the Broad- 
but at the time referred to, overhanging the banks of the Hudson, whose 
limit* have since been pushed back a quarter of a mile by the contractors and dust- 
OoUectors : and these gentlemen being of the opinion, after a deliberate consultation, 
that it was necessary to have a chapel of ease connected with Trinity, it was then 
and there ordained that the Church-Wardens, Colonel Moore. Mr. Watts. Mr. Living- 
ston, Mr. Chambers. Mr. Horsmanden, Mr. Reade, and Mr. Lodge, be appointed a 
committee to select a place for the erection ' of ye* Chapel of St. George's. Another 
meeting was held on the 4th of duly, 174S. Colonel Robinson, one of the committee, 
reported that he had agreed with a Mr. Clarkson for a number of lots, for which 
that person had asked the sum of £500, to be paid in a year, and several persons in 
Montgomerie Ward had stated to him that the lots of Colonel Bookman, fronting 
Beekman and Van Cliff streets, would be more commodious for building the said 
chapel, and proposed that if the vestry would a_ building of the chapel on 

Colonel Beekman's property, the inhabitants of Montgomerie Ward would raise 
money among themselves to purchase the ground, and that if Mr. Clarkson insisted 
on the performance of the agreement with him for his lots, they would take a con- 
veyance for them, and pay the purchase-money ; which was agreed to after many 
hot words. For these respectable vestrymen, in a manner like all vestrymen from 
time immemorial, had tempers of their own, and no doubt tiny were exercised at 
the fact that the doughty Robinson had taken upon himself to make an agreement 
to purchase lots for £500, a very large sum in those days when the gold-board had 
not been established, wdrile on the other hand the inhabitants of Montgomerie Ward, 
which was afterward called the 'Swamp' in the memory of man, were, without whip 
or spur, eager for the honor and glory of the future, to furnish the lots and build upon 
them a church. Well, the vestrymen went home and drank more arrack-punch, 

etenod with Mu» - . . ..r, and punished ' oelykoeks,' greasy with oil and other 

substances, and then returned to the bosoms of their respective families. Donation* 
poured in to the committee, and the first subscription, of £100. w-as made by Sir 
Peter Warren, who desired, if not inconsistent with the rules of the church, that 
they would reserve a pew for himself and family in perpetuity. The Archbishop of 



103 

Canterbury contributed ten pounds. This, the second building in the city erected 
for the purpose of worship being completed, notice was given to the Governor, and 
the installation services were held on the 1st day of July, A. D., 1752 ; but there 
being no bishop in the country at the time, it was consecrated agreeably to the 
ancient usages of the church. The Rev. Henry Barclay, D. D., at this time, was 
the rector, and Rev. Samuel Auchmuty, D. D., assistant minister of Trinity Church. 
Being finished in the finest style of architecture of the period, and having a hand- 
some and lofty steeple, this edifice was justly deemed a great ornament to the city. 
It first stood alone, there being but few other houses in its vicinity. Shortly sub- 
sequent, however, the streets were graded and built upon, and now the immense 
warehouses of enterprising merchants and handsome private residences surround it 
on every side. When first constructed, the interior arrangement of St. George's dif- 
fered considerably from the present, the chancel, at that time, being contained in the 
circular recess at the rear of the church, and the altar standing back against the 
rear-wall in full view of the middle-aisle. There was also some difference in the 
arrangement of the desk, pulpit, and clerk's-desk. An interesting relation is told 
concerning the material of which this part of the church-furniture was made, and it 
may be thus condensed : In one of the voyages made by a sea-captain, whose vessel 
was unfortunately wrecked, he sustained, among other injuries, the loss of the 
vessel's masts. This disaster occurring on a coast where no other wood than 
mahogany could be procured, the captain was obliged to remedy the loss by replac- 
ing the old masts with masts made of mahogany. This ship, thus repaired, returned 
to this port about the time St. George's was building, when more suitable masts 
were substituted, and those made of mahogany were donated to the Church. The 
pulpit, desk, and chancel-rails were removed some years afterward, and it may be 
interesting to state that they can now be seen answering a like capacity in Christ 
Church, in the little town of Manhasset, on Long Island. 

" There is an incident connected with the beautiful font of this church, which 
will also bear repetition. Originally intended for a Catholic church in South 
America, it was shipped on a French vessel to be carried to its destination ; but 
whilst on the voyage it was captured by the English during the old French war and 
brought to this city. This font is made of white marble, and is a masterly piece of 
workmanship. In 1814, when St. George's was burned, this font was supposed to 
have been destroyed, but it was found about thirty years ago in a remote part of 
the church, where it had been removed during the conflagration. It was somewhat 
damaged, but not enough, however, to prevent its further use, and after being 
cleaned and repaired it was replaced in front of the chancel, where it now stands, an 
interesting feature of the time-honored building. 

" One of the melancholy events associated with this old church was the sudden 
death of the Rev. John Ogilvie. On the 18th of November, 1774, whilst delivering 
one of the lectures he was in the habit of holding on Friday evenings, he was 
struck with apoplexy. He had given out his text: 'To show that jthe Lord is 
upright : he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.' — Psalms, xcii., 15 ; 
and after repeating a sentence or two he sank into the reading-desk, . and was 
deprived of speech. He suffered thus for eight days, when he was relieved by 
death. It was in this chapel, in July, 1787, that the Right Rev. Samuel Provost, 
the first bishop of the Diocese of New York, held his first ordination, at which time 
the late Right Rev. Richard C. Moore, D. D., Bishop of Virginia, and the Rev. 
Joseph G. I. Bend, of Baltimore, were made Deacons. In the year 1811, arrange- 
ments were made for a separation between the congregation of St. George's and the 
corporation of Trinity Church, after which the latter became duly organized as a 
separate parish, known as St. George's Church. 



104 

" The following persons composed the first vestry: Church-Wardens — Gerrit Van 
Wagenen and Henry refers. Vestrymen — Francis Dominick, Isaac Lawrence, 
Isaac Garow, Robert Wardell, Cornelius Schemmerhorn, John Onderdonk, Edward 
W. Laight. and William Green. After St. George's became a separate parish, its 
first minister was the Rev. John Brady, who afterward became an assistant under 
the Rev. John Kewly. St. George's was entirely consumed by fire in the month of 
January. 1814, nothing- being saved but the bare walls. After a proper examination, 
these walls were decided to be safe enough to bear another roof, and when this was 
put on the whole interior of the building was renewed. The interior of the church 
is much more handsomely finished than the exterior, the carved capitals of the 
Corinthian order presenting a fine specimen of architectural beauty. The ground- 
floor is divided into three aisles, and on either side a commodious gallery is sup- 
ported by massive columns. At the west end, and connecting these two, there is 
another gallery, in the middle of which is located a handsome mahogany organ. 
Above this end gallery there are two smaller ones, which are used by the Sunday- 
school pupils. From the center of the ceiling three large magnificent glass chande- 
liers depend, and these are among the few articles that were saved from the fire. 
Over the side galleries three smaller, but very beautiful chandeliers are hung above 
the arches. When St. George's was completed a second time, it was placed by the 
vestry under the pastoral charge of the Rev. Dr. Milnor, who continued to fill the 
rectorship until the 8th of April. 184.">, when he died. This venerable minister was 
held in high esteem by his parish, and his death was sincerely lamented. He had 
been a lawyer in Philadelphia in early life, and for several terms represented that 
city in Congress. In 18lo, he abandoned secular pursuits, and was admitted to 
priests' and deacons' orders by Bishop White. 

'• One hundred years after the consecration of St. George's, a grand centenary 
celebration was held in the church, and hundreds of worshippers knelt in the shadow 
of the pulpit from which George Washington had often heard the sacred text read 
and expounded. Dr. Tyng held the rectorship until the new edifice in Sixteenth 
street was finished, when the communion service was removed to the new church, 
and a number of old relics carried away. Now the venerable pile is being gutted 
from organ-loft to altar, and the hungry doors stand open that all may see the 
nakedness of the edifice. The old gray flag-stones, worn by the feet of Schuylers, 
Livingstons, Reades, Van Cliffs, Beekmans, Van Rensselaers, Cortlandts, Moores, 
and others, well known and respected in the infancy of the metropolis, are to be 
torn up and converted into lime, the pulpit will go to a junk-shop, and the rest of 
the furniture to the wood-yard. At present the graves of revolutionary heroes 
serve as a depository for ashes and rubbish, and vessels are emptied daily from the 
windows adjoining on places where, a hundred years ago, was carved the sacred 
words never to be effaced, "Bequiescat in pace." The old church has to be torn down, 
and the six lots will be sold to the highest purchasers. The church was the oldest 
in the city but one, the building occupied as a post-office having been the first 
building erected as a place of worship. The property purchased from Colonel Beek- 
man for £500 is now worth, it is said, half a million of dollars." 

Mr. Clinton was at his country seat at Flushing, L. I., when his 
successor, Sir James Osborne, arrived. This was on Sunday, the 7th of 
October. 1753. The Council, Mayor, Corporation, and the chief citizens 
met the new Governor on his arrival, and escorted him to the Council- 
Chamber. The following day Mr. Clinton called upon him, and they 
both dined with the members of the Council. On "Wednesday morning 
Mr. Clinton administered to him the oath of office, and delivered to him 



105 

the seals ; at the same time delivering to James De Lancey his commis- 
sion as Lieutenant-Governor. As soon as these forms were finished, 
Governor Osborne, attended by the Council and Mr. Clinton, set out for 
the Town-Hall, where the new commission was usually read to the people. 
Scarcely, however, had the procession advanced a few steps, when the 
rabble, incited, it is said, by the De Lancey faction, insulted Mr. Clinton 
so grossly as to compel him to leave the party, and retire into the fort. 
In the evening cannon were fired, bonfires lighted, fireworks displayed, 
and the whole city was given up to a delirium of joy. Amid all these 
rejoicings, the new Governor sat in his room gloomy and sad ; and, seem- 
ingly averse to conversation, retired early. On Thursday morning he 
informed the Council that his strict orders were to insist upon an indefinite 
support for the Government, and desired to have the opinion of the Board 
upon the probabilities of its success. It was universally agreed by the 
members present that the Assembly never would submit to this demand, 
and that a permanent support could not be enforced. Turning to Mr. 
Smith, who had hitherto remained silent, he requested his opinion, which 
being to the same effect as that just expressed, Mr. Osborne sighed, and, 
leaning against the window, with his face partially concealed, exclaimed, 
in great mental distress : "Then what am I sent here for !" That same 
evening he was so unwell that a physician was summoned, with whom 
he conversed for a little time, and then retired to his chamber, where he 
spent the most of the night in arranging his private affairs. In the 
morning he was found suspended from the top of the garden-fence, dead.* 
Sir Dan vers Osborne had lost a wife to whom he was passionately 
attached, shortly before coming to New York. This acting upon a mind 
morbidly sensitive, had thrown him into a melancholy, bordering upon 
insanity. He came to the government charged with instructions much 
more stringent in their tone than those given to his predecessor ; and 
knowing the difficulty which Mr. Clinton experienced during his admin- 
istration, he saw before him only a succession of storms and tempests. 
Almost the first words of the City Corporation in their address to him in 
the Town-Hall — " that they would not brook any infringement of their lib- 
erties, civil and religious" — convinced Mr. Osborne of the utter impos- 
sibility of the task assigned to him. All these causes working upon a 
morbid state of mind — wishing to carry out his instructions on the one 
hand, yet seeing its utter hopelessness on the other — produced a tempo- 
rary insanity, in which state he committed the rash act. Party rage, it 
is true, threw out suspicions of unfair play ; and the Council even thought 
it worth while to appoint a committee to investigate more fully the cir- 
cumstances of his death ; but these suspicions, it was made clearly 
evident, were entirely without foundation. 

* Manuscript affidavits of Philip Crosby and John Milligan before the Council. 
Sworn to, October 12, 1753, and now preserved in the Secretary of State's Office, 
Albany, N. Y. 



106 

Immediately on the death of Governor Osborne, Mr. De Lancey, by 
virtue of his commission as Lieutenant-Governor, assumed the reins of gov- 
ernment. The role which he was henceforth to play, though difficult, was 
acted with his usual shrewdness and address. He had now to convince 
the Ministry that he was zealous in the promotion of the interests of the 
Crown ; while at the same time, if he would retain his own popularity, 
he must show the Assembly that he was true to his former principles, 
and by no means required a compliance with the instructions, which, on 
the part of his Majesty, he should present to them. " As his Majesty's 
representative, he was obliged to urge their compliance with seeming 
sincerity and warmth ; but as James De Lancey, their old friend and 
best adviser, it was his real sentiment that they never ought to submit." 
The change in the administration, however, was productive of one good 
result — that of infusing into the Assembly a desire to take active 
measures for the defense of the province, now threatened with a desolat- 
ing Indian war. Before the close of the session, an elaborate complaint 
to the Crown, and a representation to the Board of Trade against Mr. 
Clinton were drawn up, and forwarded through Mr. De Lancey to the 
home government. The Assembly was then px-orogued to the first Tues- 
day of the following March — the Lieutenant-Governor tenderly remark- 
ing before they parted, that they "must be sensible they had not acted 
with his Majesty's royal instructions." 

In the General Assembly which met on the 15th of October, 1754, 
was first manifested the want of that harmony which had hitherto been 
so flattering to Mr. De Lancey's administration. The reluctance of the 
Lieutenant-Governor at the congress to accede to the plan of union, first 
awakened suspicion in the public mind that his sympathies were on the 
side of the Crown, and that the affection which he professed for the people 
was only a cover to his own ambition. There were also a few of Mr. 
Clinton's friends left, around whom were gathered a small opposition ; 
and the partiality which Mr. De Lancey had shown to his partisans since 
coming into power, disgusted others and added to the discontent which 
was now quite general. To this was added another source of dissatisfac- 
tion, viz. : the course he had taken in the founding of the college. To 
understand this latter point more clearly, it is necessary to glance at the 
origin of the controversy which was now raging fiercely, and which had 
already divided the Assembly into two parties. 

The province of New York at this period was divided in its religious 
views into two sects — the Episcopalian and the Presbyterian — the former 
being led by James De Lancey, and the latter by William Livingston. 
The Presbyterians, though outnumbering ten to one the Episcopalians, 
had not fairly recovered from the oppressions of the early Governors, 
Fletcher and Cornbury ; and they would probably have remained quiet 
had not the Episcopalians, with great lack of judgment, stirred up anew 
the embers of controversy. 



107 

The people of New York, awakened to the importance of stimulating 
education, raised, by successive lotteries, the sum of three thousand 
four hundred and forty-three pounds for the purpose of founding a col- 
lege ; and in the fall of 1751 passed an act for placing the money thus 
raised in the hands of ten trustees. Of these, seven were Episcopalians, 
two belonged to the Dutch church, and the tenth was William Living- 
ston, an English Presbyterian. This manifest inequality in favor of the 
Church of England, at once raised a well-founded alarm in the minds of 
the other sects, who very justly perceived in this an attempt to make the 
college entirely sectarian, by which only those in the Episcopal church 
could participate in its benefits. Nor were they left long in suspense 
for it soon became well understood that the majority of the trustees 
were to have the college under their control, and were intending shortly 
to petition the Lieutenant-Governor for a charter, in which it was to be 
expressly stipulated that no person out of the communion of the English 
church should be eligible to the office of president. Far-seeing men 
uttered gloomy forebodings ; and a belief soon diffused itself through the 
minds of intelligent dissenters, that this was only the foreshadowing of 
an attempt to introduce into the colony an established church. 

This idea was to a majority of the colonists repugnant in the extreme. 
The union of church and state, with its tithes and taxes, was, like the 
" skeleton in armor," ever present to their imaginations, stimulating them 
to the utmost resistance. Mr. Livingston, therefore, partially with a view 
to expose the evils of a college founded upon such sectarian principles, 
established a paper called the Independent Reflector. The articles which 
successively appeared from his pen on this subject were able and pungent. 
Under his lash the leaders of the church-party winced ; and, in their 
agony, charged him with the design of breaking up the plan of any col- 
lege whatever, and dreaded lest he should obtain a charter " for constitut- 
ing a college on a basis the most catholic, generous, and free." These 
attacks of the church-party were returned with redoubled violence, and 
the controversy had now risen to fever-heat. 

But the efforts of Mr. Livingston and other able writers to prevent 
the incorporation of King's (Columbia) College under these principles 
were fruitless ; and Mr. De Lancey accordingly granted the charter. Rev. 
Samuel Johnson, from Stratford, a worthy man, was called to the presi- 
dent's chair, and Mr. Livingston was appointed one of the governors, in 
the hope of silencing his opposition. 

The granting of this charter was so displeasing to the majority of the 
people, that the Lieutenant-Governor thought it advisable, in order to win 
back their former confidence, to urge at the present session the passage 
of several popular acts. Among them was one for supplying the garri- 
son at Albany and the fortifications along the frontiers, and another for 
the discharge of the claims of the public creditors, especially the one of 
Colonel, afterward Sir William Johnson. 



108 

The granting of a charter to the new college, however, had not utterly 
crushed out opposition to its obnoxious principles. The House still had 
the disposal of the money which had been raised ; and the sectarians 
having a majority, the trustees were ordered to report their transactions 
by virtue of the act under which they had been appointed. The latter 
accordingly on the first of November handed in two separate reports, 
Win. Livingston reading one, and James Livingston and Mr. Nickol the 
other. After the two reports had been considered, the House unani- 
mously resolved " that it would not consent to any disposition of the 
moneys raised by lottery for erecting a college within this colony in any 
other manner than by an act of the Legislature hereafter passed for that 
purpose." Permission at the same time was given Mr. Robert Livingston 
to bring in a bill for incorporating a college, which he introduced that 
same afternoon. 

The introduction of this bill astonished both Houses. It was vain to 
suppose that the Council would give its assent to an act so distasteful to 
its religious prejudices; nor was the Lieutenant-Governor likely to 
directly contradict the letters-patent which, on behalf of the Crown, he 
himself had granted ; while the Assembly, composed chiefly of dissenters, 
dared not reject it. In this predicament, a motion was made by Mr. 
Walton — prefaced with the remark " that the subject was of the utmost 
consequence to the people they represented, with the respect both to 
their civil and religious liberties" — that the consideration of the bill 
be deferred until the next session, by which time the sentiments of their 
constituents could be obtained. This motion was gladly seized upon as 
the only mode which presented an honorable retreat from the position 
they had so hastily assumed, and was therefore immediately carried. 

Thus, with the close of the year, practically terminated the college 
controversy, a controversy which, considered in itself, was not perhaps of 
much importance ; but which should not be omitted by the historian, 
who would show the pi'ogress which the citizens of New York were 
making toward that civil and religious freedom which they afterward 
attained. 

Sir Charles Hardy, the person whom the Ministry had appointed to 
succeed Clinton, arrived in New York in 1755. He was, like his imme- 
diate predecessor, an unlettered British Admiral, and he had not landed 
long before it was apparent that, like him also, he had not sufficient 
executive talent to govern without a leader. He therefore soon resigned 
himself into the hands of De Lancey, who thus again became Governor. 
Sir Charles Hardy, however, soon became tired of his inactive life ; and 
having, like a sensible man, asked and received permission to resign the 
government and return to his former profession, he hoisted his flag as 
Rear- Admiral of the Blue, and leaving his government in the hands of 
the Lieutenant-Governor, De Lancey, he sailed on the 2d of July, 1757? 
to take command of an expedition against Lewisburg. 



109 

The year before his departure, however, was signalized by an out- 
rage upon the citizens of New York, which was long treasured up, and 
undoubtedly had its full weight in the catalogue of grievances which a 
few years later was to precipitate the colony into revolution. At this 
time the colonists were engaged in a bloody war with the Indians and 
French ; and Lord Loudoun, who had been appointed Commander-in- 
Chief of the Army in America, arrived in New York in December, 1756, 
with twenty-four hundred men. His first act after landing was to insist 
that his officers should have free quarters upon the city. This, it will be 
remembered, was in direct opposition to the Charter of Liberties, framed 
by the first Assembly under Governor Dongan ; and the citizens, who 
saw in this an attempt to burden them with a standing army, became 
excited, and warmly pleaded their rights as Englishmen. But Loudoun 
was not to be moved. Six men were billeted upon the brother of the 
Lieutenant-Governor — Oliver De Lancey. The latter thi'eatened, if they 
were not removed, to leave the country. " I shall be glad of it," replied 
his lordship, at the same time quartering half-a-dozen more upon him, 
"for then the troops will have the whole house."* The Corporation 
insisted that free quarters were against the common law and the petition 
of rights. " God damn my blood!" exclaimed Loudoun to Mayor Cruger, 
who presented the opinion of the Corporation ; " if you do not billet my 
officers upon free quarters this day, III order all the troops in North 
America, under my command, and billet them myself upon this city!/' 
All argument being thus at an end, a subscription was raised for the 
quartering of the officers ; and Loudoun, having rendered himself an 
object of detestation, went to Boston to breathe the same threats, and to 
talk of the rigor which was to characterize the next year's campaign. 

Three years after the departure of Governor Hardy, the City of 
New York was thrown into deep mourning by the death of its former 
Chief-Justice and present Lieutenant-Governor, James De Lancey. On 
the 30th of July, 1700, he died very suddenly from an attack of asthma, 
a malady to which he had for many years been subject. The day 
previous to his decease, he had visited Staten Island, and dined with 
Governor Morris, General Prevost, and several other distinguished men 
of the day. Late in the evening he crossed the baj, seemingly laboring 
under great depression of spirits, and drove to his country-seat in the 

*"Sir: Am just now informed that 2,400 men are arrived in New York. 
My Lord Loudoun set a billetting them and sent only six to his old acquaintance, 
Mr. 01. De Lancey ; he zounzed, and blood-and-zounzed at the soldiers. This 
was told my lord ; he sent Mr. 01. half-a-dozen more. He sent my lord word if 
matters were to go so he would leave the country. My lord sent him word he would be 
glad of it ; then the troops would have the whole house. I really thought this so' 
extraordinary, I must communicate it to you." — M. 8. Letter in tlie author's posses- 
sion. Wm. Colby tor Si Wm. Johnson, Jan. 15th, 1757. 



110 

suburbs.* The next morning he was found by one of his little children! 
sitting in his library in the last agonies of death. 

By his violent political enemies Mr. De Lancey has been represented 
as a most unprincipled demagogue, while by his satellites, he has been 
lauded to the skies as a disinterested citizen and patriot. Neither of 
these views is "correct ; and the truth, as is generally the case, lies 
between the two extremes. Mr. De Lancey, undoubtedly, was very 
ambitious arid fond of notoriety ; and his love of power and the emolu- 
ments of office often led him into the commission of acts from which 
otherwise he would have shrunk. While he has been praised for his 
" broad and popular principles," and for his " political skill in success- 
fully preserving to the Assembly the right of annual appropriations,' 
yet he assumed this position more from a determination to displace 
Clinton, that he himself might rule, than from any love for the people. 
His course in 1754, in relation to the college charter, alienated his warm- 
est friends; and, although In subsequently bitterly repented of giving 
his sanction to the act of incorporation, yet it was more on account of 
his loss of popularity than from any feeling of liberality. He was, 
however, possessed of many amiable and noble qualities, and private 
virtues; his disposition was social and genial, and he was withal a good 
classical scholar and a profound lawyer. His conduct upon the bench 
was generally irreproachable ; and his decisions, in those cases in which 
the feelings of the political partisan did not enter, were characterized by 
fairness and discrimination. His death, occurring at this time, was a 
great loss to the province ; for numerous as were his faults he was a man 
of unquestioned ability. During his long administration he had made 
himself thoroughly conversant with Indian relations ; and since the 
departure of Clinton had heartily co-operated with Sir William Johnson, 
the Indian Superintendent, in all his efforts in that department. By his 
death the political complexion of the province underwent a material 
change ; and Doctor Colden, by virtue of being President of the Council, 
took the charge of the Government until the wishes of the Ministry 
were known. 

Scarcely had the gloom resulting from the death of Mr. De Lancey 
been dispelled, when the city was again thrown into excitement — this 
time, however, from a pleasurable cause. In the October that succeeded the 
Lieutenant-Governor's death, General Amherst, covered with laurels on 
account of his conquest of Canada, visited New York. So overjoyed were 
the citizens at the successful termination of the protracted struggle, that it 

* On the east side of the Bowery, a little above Grand street. 

f The little child who discovered him was the grandfather of the late Bishop De 
Lancey, of New York. Miss Booth, in her generally accurate and exceedingly valu- 
able work, states that James De Lancey was the great grandfather of the late 
Bishop. This, however, is a mistake. He was his grandfather. 



Mail Stage, 

From Wbitcfiown to Canajoharrie* 




THE Mail haves IVhiteflo-ujn every 
Monday and 7 bur/day , at two o'clock 
P. M. and proceeds to Old Fort Schuyler the 
famt evening , ■next morning fiarts at four 
o clock, and arrives at Canujoharrie in the 
evening • exchanges pa-JJengers ivith she Al 
hany and Cooperjionjjn jiaggj, and the next 
day returns to Old Fort Schuyler 

Fare for pajjengers, Tivo Dollars ; iv^j 
pajfengers, Four Pence per mile; \\lb. hag- 
gag' gratis \ ijOavf. rated the fame as a 
pajjenger. 

Seats may be had by applying at the Poji- 
Office t rVbiteJlonun., at the hou/e of the fub- 
criber. Old Fort Schuyler, or at Captain 
Reaf^j; Canajobarrie 

JASON PARKER. 

Auguft, 1795. 84 



tTHOGf* CO 



ossofiA/es pxocrss ' 



Ill 

seemed as if they could not do too much for him whom they regarded in 
the light of their preserver from the tomahawk and scalping-knife. 
Accordingly, upon the arrival of Amherst a public dinner was given him, 
the freedom of the city presented in a gold box, salutes fired, and the 
whole city illuminated. Nor, as is too frequently the case with ovations, 
were these honors undeserved by their recipient, who was as modest as 
he was brave. 

Meanwhile, the work of improving the city rapidly advanced. In 
the spring ot 1761 new streets were opened and paved, among which 
was Partition street, now Fulton. At the same time the first theater was 
opened in Beekman street, under the patronage of the Lieutenant- 
Governor, although the project was strenuously opposed by the Assembly 
as tending to vitiate and lower the standard of public morals. "During 
this year, also," says Miss Booth, " the old plan of lighting the streets by 
lanterns suspended from the windows, was 'definitely abandoned ; and 
public lamps and lamp-posts were erected in the principal streets, and 
lighted at the public expense." Laws were also passed regulating the 
prices of provisions, some of which the same author gives as affording 
an idea of the prices at that time. Beef was sold at four pence half- 
penny per pound ; pork, five pence half-penny ; veal, six pence ; butter, 
fifteen pence ; milk, six coppers per quart ; and a loaf of bread, of a 
pound and twelve ounces, four coppers. 

In June, 1764, a light-house was erected on Sandy Hook and lighted 
for the first time. Two ferries were also established the same year; one 
between Paulus Hook (Jersey City) and New York, and another between 
Staten Island and Bergen. At the same time the mail between New 
York and Philadelphia was changed from once a fortnight to twice a 
week, the distance between the two cities being made in three days. 

At an early period in New York the mails, now of such vital 
importance, were a very insignificant affair.* Even since the American 
Revolution a saddle-bag boy on horseback, without any protection, car- 
ried the mail three times a week between New York and Philadelphia. 
People wondered at seeing the bags next placed upon a sulky ; and were 
lost in amazement when a four-horse stage became necessary for the 
increasing load and bulk. Now a large car, several times a day, 
is found insufficient, for 'the amount of mail matter that passes between 
those two cities. Then, the post went and returned by way of " Blazing 
Star," Staten Island. In process of time several new routes were 
opened to Philadelphia. One crossed the bay to Staten Island in a 
perogue, commonly called a periagua, a little open boat with lee-boards, and 
steered by one man. Peaching the Island the traveler proceeded to 
the ferry at " Arthur Polls' " Sound, crossed in a scow to New Jersey, 

* On the opposite page will be found a fac simile of an advertisement cut out 
of an old newspaper kindly given me by the Hon. Theodore Faxton, of Utica, N. Y. 



112 

and shortly reached the " Blazing Star," near Woodbridge. Journeying 
slowly to the Raritan Rive/ New Brunswick was reached by a scow, and 
in the same manner Trenton on the Delaware, until by the third or fourth 
day the " City of Brotherly Love " made its appearance. Another route 
advertised a commodious " stage-boat" to start with goods and passengers 
from the City Hall Slip (Coenties) twice a week, for Perth Amboy Ferry, 
and thence by stage-wagon to Cranberry and Burlington, from which 
point a stage-boat continued the Hue to Philadelphia ; this trip generally 
required three days. This was long before the days of steam-boats ; and 
these " stage-boats " were small sloops, sailed by a single man and boy, 
or two men, and passing " outside," as it is still called, by the Narrows 
and through the ' ; Lower Bay," these small passage-vessels, at times, 
were driven out to sea, thus oftentimes causing vexatious delays. In 
very stormy weather the " inside route," through the Kills, was chosen. 
The most common way to Philadelphia, however, was to cross the North 
River in a sail-boat, and then the Passaic and Hackensack by scows? 
reaching the " Quaker City" by stages in about three days. But these 
passages had their perils. The " Blazing Star Inn " (sign of a comet) 
lay four or five miles from the Staten Island ferry, and Baron De Kalb, 
then a Colonel, crossing over here in January, 17(58, was the only one of 
nine passengers not frozen so as to lose life or lioib. The open scow sank 
on a sand-bank and left the whole party exposed all night. When res" 
cued, he alone refused to be warmed by the fire, but placing his feet and 
legs in cold water, went to bed and arose uninjured. One of his com- 
panions died on the scow before succor arrived. 

In 1756, the first stage started between New York and Philadelphia 
— three days through. In 1765, a second stage was advertised for Phila- 
delphia — a covered Jersey wagon — at two pence, a mile. The next year 
another line was begun called the " Flying Machine," with good wagons ? 
seats on springs, time two days, and fare two pence a mile, or twenty 
shillings through. John Mercereau, at the "Blazing Star," "notifies 
that persons may go from New York to Philadelphia and back in 
five days, remaining in Philadelphia two nights and one day; fare, 
twenty shillings through. There will be two wagons and two drivers, 
and four sets of horses. The passengers will lodge at Paulus Hook 
Ferry the night before, to start thence the next morning early." 

During the year 1785, the first stages commenced their trips between 
New York and Albany, with four horses, at four pence a mile, on the 
east side of the North River, under a special act of the Legislature, for 
ten years. Ten years afterward this fine was extended as far as White- 
stone, just beyond Fort Schuyler (Utica).* 

* In this connection it may be mentioned that, during the year 1756, the first 
British packet-boats commenced sailing from New York to Falmouth, each letter 



113 

What a contrast between that day and our own. Then news from 
England five months old was fresh and racy. Now we must have it in 
two hours, and then grumble at the length of time taken by the Atlantic 
Cable to convey the intelligence. Then news seven days old from New 
York to Boston was swift enough for an express. Now if we cannot 
obtain the news from Washington in less than the same number of min- 
utes, we become almost frantic, and talk of starting new telegraph com- 
panies. 

" In 1766, the Methodist denomination was first organized in the city 
by Philip Embury and others ; and in 1767, the first church of this sect 
was erected upon the site of the present one in John, near Nassau street, 
and like it, christened Wesley Chapel. Several new streets were opened 
about the same time, among others Cliff street and Park place. Eor the 
better prevention of fires, an ordinance was passed directing that all the 
roofs in the city should be covered with slate or tiles. For some years* 
however, tiles alone were used, the first building roofed with slate being, 
it is said, the City Hotel in Broadway, erected about 1794." 

It will be recollected that on the death of Mr. De Lancey, the Gov- 
ernment had devolved on Dr. Cadwallader Colden, as President of the 
Council, until the wishes of the Ministry could be ascertained. Shortly 
after his first speech to the Assembly on the 2'2d of October, 1760, news 
arrived of the death of George the Second and the accession of his grand- 
son, and as it was the unanimous opinion of the Provincial Council that 
the demise of the King dissolved the Assembly, writs were issued for a 
new one, returnable upon the 3d of March, 1761. Meanwhile, various 
were the conjectures respecting the name of the future Governor. At 
one time rumor gave the gubernatorial chair to General Gage ; again 
the public were confident that Thomas Pownal would be the fortunate 
man. Some few suggested Colden, and others General Monckton. All 
surmises were at length set at rest. Pownal received the Governorship 
of Jamaica, Gage remained at Montreal, and Colden, having been 
appointed Lieutenant-Governor, announced to the Assembly that his 
Majesty had been pleased " to distinguish the services of Major-General 
Monckton by constituting him his Captain-General and Governor-in- 
Chief of the Province." The new Governor, however, did not long 
occupy the gubernatorial chair, for, preferring the excitement of arms to 
the cares and troubles of office, he, like Governor Hardy, requested to 
be allowed to resume his old profession. Accordingly, having produced 
his commission to the council and taken the oaths of office, he sailed from 

carried " to pay four-penny weight of silver." It is also worth noticing here, that 
+ he earliest voyage to China from New York, was made during the year 1785, 
*n the ship Empress, Captain Greene. The same year Captain Dean performed the 
same voyage in an Albany sloop — a feat at that day more remarkable than the sail" 
ing of the little " Red, White and Blue," across the Atlantic a few months since. 

8 



114 

New York on the last day of November, 1761, leaving the government 
in the hands of Doctor Colden. 

The administration of Doctor Colden was at first marked by no event 
of special moment, and the intercourse between himself and his Assembly, 
if we except the slight opposition against the theater in Beekman street, 
was of the most amiable character. But this calm was to be of short 
duration, for shortly after receiving his commission of Lieutenant-Gover- 
nor, he was instrumental in an act which set not only the Assembly, but 
the whole province in a blaze. As by the death of Mr. De Lancey, 
the seat of Chief-Justice had become vacant, a general wish was expressed 
by the community that the vacancy should at once be filled. The three 
remaining judges, Horsmanden, Chambers and Jones, having doubts «as 
to their ability to issue processes under their old commissions since the 
death of the King, likewise urged the Lieutenant-Governor to appoint a 
successor without delay. Colden, however, was more concerned for his 
own and his family's advancement than for the welfare of the colony. 
In the same letter in which he announced to the Lords of Trade the 
death of De Lancey, he had recommended his eldest son for the seat at 
the Council Board, made vacant by the Lieutenant-Governor's death, and 
in the same fawning and grasping spirit he now desired the Earl of 
Halifax, the Colonial Secretary of State, to nominate a Chief- Justice. 
The result was, not only the nomination, but the actual appointment of 
Benjamin Pratt, a Boston lawyer, to the seat, not, as had been usual 
before the death of his late Majesty, " during good behavior," but " at 
the pleasure of the King." 

The appointment, in this manner and at this time, was peculiarly 
unfortunate. The sister colony of Massachusetts was now writhing under 
the " writs of assistance,' - which the British Ministry had so recklessly 
determined to force upon the colonies. These " writs'' had been requested 
by the custom-house officers to enable them the better to enforce the 
revenue. They were in effect search-warrants, and whoever held them 
might with impunity break open a citizen's house and violate the sanc- 
tity of his dwelling. The inhabitants were justly incensed at this exer- 
cise of arbitrary power, and the more so, as they saw no disposition on 
the part of those in authority to resist this infringement upon their 
liberties. Bernard, the Governor of Massachusetts, scrupled not to 
become the tool of the Earl of Egremont, Pitt's successor, and boldly 
declared himself in favor of adoptiug the odious plan of the Crown for 
increasing the revenue. Hutchinson, the Chief-Justice of the province, 
was equally subservient to the royal authority. An opportunity, how- 
ever, soon came in which the temper of the people found vent. A peti- 
tion having been presented to the Superior Court by the officers of the 
customs that " writs of assistance" might ensue, the question was argued 
at length in February (1761) before the Chief- Justice and his four asso- 



115 

eiate justices. Jeremiah Gridley, on behalf of the Crown, argued for the 
legality of the writ, on the ground that as the writ was allowed to the 
revenue officers in England, to refuse the same powers to the colonial 
officers, would be to deny that " the Parliament of Great Britain is the 
sovereign legislature of the British empire." 

The fearless and impulsive James Otis, who had resigned his office 
as Advocate-General, that, untrammeled, he might argue this case against 
the Crown, appeared for the people of Boston. " These writs," he 
exclaimed, " are the worst instruments of arbitrary power, the most 
destructive of English liberty and the fundamental principles of law." 
With impassioned eloquence, he showed to the court the nature of these 
writs. " In the first place," he said, " the writ is universal, being directed 
to all and singular justices, sheriffs, constables, and all other officers and 
subjects, so that, in short, it is directed to every subject in the King's 
dominions. Every one with this writ may be a tyrant ; if this commis- 
sion be legal, a tyrant in a legal manner. Also may control, imprison, 
or murder any one within the realm. In the next place, it is perpetual. 
A man is accountable to no person for his doings. * * * 

In the third place, a person with this writ, in the day time may enter all 
houses, shops, &c, at will, and command all to assist him. Now, one of 
the most essential branches of English liberty is the freedom of one's 
house. A man's house is his castle, and whilst he is quiet he is as well 
guarded as a prince in his castle. This writ, if it should be declared 
legal, would totally annihilate this privilege. Custom-house officers may 
enter our houses when they please. We are commanded to permit their 
entry. Their menial servants may enter, may break locks, bars, and 
everything in their way, and whether they break through malice or 
revenge, no man, no court may inquire. Bare suspicion without oath is 
sufficient ; and," continued he, " I am determined to sacrifice estate, ease, 
health, applause, and even life to the sacred calls of my country in oppo- 
sition to a kind of power which cost one King of England his head and 
another his throne, and to my dying day I will oppose, with all the 
power and faculties that God has given me, all such instruments of slavery 
on the one hand and villainy on the other !" 

At the next term of the court, the writ of assistance was granted, 
but such was the feeling of the people that the custom-house officers, 
although having the writs in their pockets, dared not in a single instance 
carry them into execution. But although the arguments of Otis failed to 
procure a decision in favor of the people, yet they did not die within the 
walls of the court-house. Caught up by his hearers, they were borne, as 
if on the wind, throughout the length and breadth of the land. " I do 
say in the most solemn manner," writes Mr. Adams, "that Mr. Otis' 
oration against writs of assistance, breathed into this nation the breath 
of life." 



116 

With these stirring appeals of James Otis ringing in their ears, it 
may readily be supposed that the people of New York were in no mood 
for this further encroachment upon their liberties. " To make the King's 
will," said they, " the term of office, is to make the bench of judges the 
instrument of the royal prerogative." Chambers, Horsmanden, and 
Jones refused to act longer unless they could hold their commissions 
during good behavior. Champions at once arose to do battle for the 
people. Conspicuous among these were William Livingston, John Morin 
Scott, and William Smith, all prominent lawyers and vigorous thinkers 
and writers ; and they protested through the public prints against this 
attempt to render the judiciary dependent upon th© Crown. Nor were 
their efforts entirely fruitless, for in the answer of the Assembly on the 
17th of December, to the request of Dr. Colden that the usual salary of 
three hundred pounds to the Chief-Justice should be increased, it was 
resolved " that as the salaries allowed for the Judges of the Supreme Court 
have been and still appear to be sufficient to engage gentlemen of the 
first figure, both as to capacity and fortune in the colony, to accept of 
these offices, it would be highly improper to augment the salary of Chief- 
Justice on this occasion ;" nor would they allow even the usual salary 
unless the commissions of the Chief-Justice and the other Judges were 
granted during good behavior. To this Colden refused to accede, and 
Chief-Justice Pratt, having served several terms without a salary, was 
finally reimbursed out of his Majesty's quit-rents of the province. 

Thus were the people of New York following in the wake of their 
Puritan neighbors. Colden himself, as if he had some glimmerings of 
the future, began to doubt the result. " For some years past," he wrote 
to the Board of Trade, " three popular lawyers educated in Connecticut, 
who have strongly imbibed the independent principles of that country, 
calumniate the administration in every exercise of the prerogative, and 
get the applause of the mass by propagating the doctrine that all 
authority is derived from the people." 

It was in the fall of 1763 that George Grenville and Lord North first 
devised the plan of raising a revenue by the sale of stamps to the colonists. 
Grenville, however, hesitated long before pressing this measure ; and it 
was not until the 2'2d of March, of this year, that the Stamp Act passed, 
and received the signature of the King. The Act declared that thence- 
forth, no legal instrument should possess any validity in the colonies 
unless it was stamped by the Government.* Long before the passage of 
the Act, the rumor that such a project was even meditated by the Ministry 
produced a universal outburst of indignation. If Parliament wished to 
raise any sum, said the colonists, let them employ the usual method of 

* "By this act, a ream of bail bonds stamped was £100; a ream of common 
printed ones before, was £15; a ream of stamped policies of insurance was £190; of 
common ones, without stamps, £20." — Bradford, Mass., i., 12. 



117 

writing circular letters to the provinces, requesting supplies according to 
the ability of each. When thus applied to heretofore, the King had 
never found them remiss, but on the contrary — as their loyal obedience 
to these requisitions during the last war had fully shown — they had 
always responded with alacrity. Taxation, however, without representa- 
tion in Parliament, was tyranny, to which they would not submit. These 
views were advocated with great power by James Otis in a series of 
pamphlets ; and the public prints teemed with similar discussions, all of 
which were read with care and reflection. The Assemblies of Virginia 
and New York especially, by their protests, took firm ground against 
the passage of the Act, but the petition of the former body was not 
received in England until it was too late, while that of the latter was so 
intemperate in its expressions against the newly-assumed pretensions of 
the Parliament, that the agent, Mr. Charles, was unable to find any 
member of that body bold enough to present it. 

It may, therefore, readily be seen, that if the mere intimation that 
such an odious measure was in contemplation, produced so much solici- 
tude, the passage of the Act itself was not calculated to allay the growing 
apprehensions of the people. But it was no sudden ebullition of indigna- 
tion that first manifested itself. Indeed, so amazed were the colonists at 
the presumption of Parliament, that when the news was first received 
their feelings were too deep for utterance. Hutchinson, the Chief-Justice 
of Massachusetts, mistaking this for submission, hastened to write to the 
Ministry that " his countrymen were waiting, not to consider if they must 
submit to a stamp-duty, but to know when its operation was to com- 
mence." He knew not that this calm was but the stillness which 
preceded the tornado that was to sweep with such desolating fury 
throughout the land ! He was shortly undeceived. Mutterings began 
to be heard in every province, which, in New England and New York, 
soon grew into acts of violence. On the 14th of August, Andrew Oliver, 
the brother-in-law of the Chief-Justice, who had received the appointment 
of Stamp-Distributer for Massachusetts, was, together with Lord Bute, 
suspended in effigy from a tree in one of the streets of Boston. In reply 
to the command of the Chief-Justice to take down those figures, the 
Sheriff gave a flat refusal ; and the Council of the Province likewise 
declined to interfere. That same night, the mob, taking the images 
down, carried them to the newly-erected Stamp-Office, which they imme- 
diately razed. Oliver's dwelling was next assailed, the windows and 
furniture demolished, and the effigies burned on Fort Hill. The next 
day, Oliver resigned ; but he was obliged, the same evening, to make a 
public recantation at a bonfire which the populace had kindled. But, 
having once given vent to their long pent-up exasperation, they did not 
stop here. Urged on by a popular preacher, Jonathan Mayhew by name, 
who had taken for his text the previous day, " I would they were even 



118 

cut off which trouble you, 1 ' they destroyed, on the 26th, the records and 
files of the Court of Admiralty, and breaking into the house of Hallowel, 
the Comptroller of Customs, broke the furniture, and freely drank of the 
choice wines in the cellar. To their just anger were now added the 
fumes of liquor, and proceeding forthwith to the residence of Hutchinson, 
they tore the paintings from the walls, destroyed the plate, and scattered 
his large and valuable library of books and manuscripts to the winds ; 
nor did they depart until the interior of the building, even to the partition- 
walls, was completely demolished. Happily, Hutchinson and his innocent 
family, having received timely notice of their danger, had escaped before 
the arrival of the rioters — otherwise, the crime of murder might have 
been added to these violent and disgraceful proceedings. 

In Connecticut, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire, the popular 
indignation showed itself in similar demonstrations, though not of so 
violent a character. The effect, however, in those provinces was the 
same ; each of the Stamp-Distributers being forced to resign to save him- 
self from odium, if not from death. 

Meantime, the Assembly of Massachusetts resolved, on the 6th of 
June, that " it was highly expedient there should be a meeting, as soon 
as might be, of committees from the Houses of Representatives or 
Burgesses in the several colonies, to consult on the present circumstances 
of the colonies, and the difficulties to which they were and must be 
reduced, and to consider of a General Congress — to be held at New York 
the first Tuesday of October." To this invitation the colonies heartily 
responded, and in the Convention, held at the time and place designated, 
they were all represented, except New Hampshire, Virginia, North 
Carolina, and Georgia. The three latter, however, although prevented 
by their Governors, by continued adjournments, from sending delegates, 
signified by letters their willingness to acquiesce in whatever measures 
the Convention might adopt ; so also, wrote New Hampshire. Lieutenant- 
Governor Colden, who had from the beginning pronounced the Conven- 
tion unconstitutional and unlawful, likewise endeavored, by successive 
adjournments, to prevent the Assembly of New York from electing 
delegates. But an Assembly that had driven Clinton from his chair, and 
had successfully fought through so many years against a permanent 
support, was not to be thus easily foiled ; and a committee appointed by 
them in October, 1764, to correspond with their sister colonies upon 
recent acts of Parliament in relation to trade, now took their seats in the 
Congress as the representatives of the people of New York. 

Timothy Buggies, who had been sent by Bernard, the Governor of 
Massachusetts, to thwart the patriotic efforts of his colleagues, was chosen 
President of the Congress, and John Cotton, Clerk. No time was 
lost. Committees were immediately appointed to draft petitions to 
Parliament, having for their burden the Stamp Act ; and after a har- 



119 

monious session of fourteen clays, the Convention dissolved, having 
adopted a declaration of rights, a petition to the King, and a memorial 
to both Houses of Parliament — the latter being drawn by James Otis. 

As before remarked, the people of New York were among the most 
bitter opponents of the Stamp Act. While the riots were going on in Bos- 
ton, the Act itself was reprinted and hawked about the streets of New 
York City, as " The folly of England, and ruin of America." Secret 
organizations styling themselves the " Sons of Liberty," met to discuss 
plans of resistance. Warned by the example of his brother appointees, 
in the neighboring colonies, McEvers, the Stamp-Distributer, resigned. 
General Cage, at the solicitation of Colden, ordered down, in July, from 
Crown Point, a company of the Sixtieth Regiment, for the defense of 
Fort George, the guns of which were remounted, new ordnance ordered, 
and the magazine replenished with a bountiful supply of ammunition. 
On the arrival of the first cargo of stamps in the harbor, toward the end 
of October, placards were posted up in the streets and at the Merchants' 
Coffee-House, of which the following is a copy : 

"pro p atria. 

" The first man that either distributes or makes use of stampt paper, let him 
take care of his house, person, and effects. 

" vox POPTJLI. 
" WE DARE." 

Terrified at signs he could not misunderstand, the Lieutenant-Gov- 
ernor had the stamps conveyed for greater security to the fort ; and in 
great trepidation summoned the members of his privy council for their 
advice. But notwithstanding he sent repeated messages, and notwith- 
standing also, that seven members were in the city, only three, Hors- 
manden, Smith, and Eeid, responded to his call, and they declined giving 
any advice unless there was a fuller Board. In this state of affairs, 
nothing was left to Colden but to shut himself up in the fort, and await 
the result. He was not long in suspense. 

On the 1st of November, the day appointed for the Stamp Act to go 
into operation, the popular indignation, which had been so long smould- 
ering, burst forth. Early in the evening, the Sons of Liberty, numbering 
several thousand, appeared before the fort and demanded the stamps. 
On being refused, they proceeded to the open fields — a portion of which 
is now the Park — and having erected a gibbet, they hung the Lieuten- 
ant-Governor in effigy, and suspended by his side a figure, holding in 
his hand a boot, representing Lord Bute.* The images after hanging 

*Colden, it is true, in a letter under date of November 5th to Secretary Con- 
way, says that the image suspended by the side of his effigy was intended to repre- 
sent the devil. In a manuscript letter, however, now before me, written by 



120 

some little time, were taken down and carried, together with the scaffold, 
in a torch-light procession to the gates of the fort. Having in vain 
knocked on the gates for admission, the mob broke into Colden's carriage- 
house, brought forth the family-coach, placed inside of it the two effigies, 
and having again paraded them around the city, returned to within one 
hundred yai'ds of the fort-gate, and hung the figures upon a second gal- 
lows erected for that purpose. A bonfire was then made of part of the 
wooden fence, which, at that time, surrounded the Bowling Green, and 
the effigies, together with the Lieutenant-Governor's coach, a single-horse 
chair, two sleighs, and several light vehicles were cast into the flames 
and entirely consumed. While the flames were lighting up the black 
muzzles of the guns of the fort, another party, having spiked the cannon 
on the Battery, proceeded to the house of Major James, an artillery offi- 
cer, who had made himself especially obnoxious by his having aided in 
putting the fort in a suitable posture for defense, and having burned 
everything of value, returned in triumph, bringing with them the colors 
of the Royal Artillery Regiment. 

AVhen McEvers resigned, Colden had sneered ; but even he was now 
compelled to give way. The day after the riot, he caused a large placard 
to be posted up, signed by Goldsbrow Banyar, the Deputy-Secretary of 
the Council, stating that he should have nothing more to do with the 
stamps, but would leave them with Sir Henry Moore, Bart., who was then 
on his way from England to assume the government. This declaration, 
however, did not satisfy the Sons of Liberty. Through their leader, Isaac 
Sears, they insisted that the stamped paper should be immediately deli- 
vered into their hands, threatening, in case of a refusal, to storm the fort 
where it was deposited. The Common Council, alarmed at the uncontrol- 
able fury of the mob, and fearing an effusion of blood, added, likewise) 
their solicitation that the stamps might be deposited in the City Hall. In 
answer to this latter request, the cause of the dispute was delivered up, 
after considerable negotiation, to the Corporation — the Board giving a 
pledge to make good all the stamps that might be lost. 

But if the spirit of the mob could not be subdued, it might at least 
be guided. On the 6th of November, a meeting of the more conservative 
citizens was called, and Sears, with four others,* was authorized to corre* 
spond with the several colonies upon the new and alarming feature of the' 

Alexander Colden, his son, to Sir William Johnson, a month after, and when the, 
facts therefore could be better ascertained, the excitement having partially subsi- 
ded, the writer says that the second image was designed for Lord Bute. The boot 
has now significance as a rebus of Lord Bute which before it had not. *' His Lord- 
ship's [John Stewart, Earl of Bute] established type with the mob was a jack-boot 
a wretched pun on his Christian name and title." — Maccauley's Essay on the Earl of 
Chatham. 

* These were John Lamb, Gushoni Mott, William Wiley, and Thomas Robinson. 



121 

prerogative of Parliament. The committee thus appointed entered into their 
work with zeal, the fruits of which soon become apparent. A resolution^ 
emanating from New York and adopted by the other colonies, directed 
the English merchants to ship no more goods to America, and declared 
that no more goods coming from England should be sold on commission in 
the colonies after the first day of January, 1766. Nor did the patriotism of 
the people end here. The wearing of cloth of British manufacture was 
dispensed with, coarse home-spun garments taking its place. Marriages 
were no longer performed by licenses, upon which the Stamp Act had now 
laid duty, but were solemnized by being proclaimed in church. Every- 
where resistance to kingly oppression was the watch-word. 

The new Governor, Sir Henry Moore, Bart., who had been appointed^ 
in June, to succeed General Monckton, arrived in New York the beginning 
of November, 1765, after a tedious passage of ten weeks. When he first 
landed he was disposed to assume a haughty tone in relation to the Stamp 
Act. The Corporation offered him the freedom of the city in a gold box, 
but he refused to accept it unless upon stamped paper. The custom- 
house cleared vessels, but the men-of-war ran out their guns and refused 
to allow them to leave the harbor, unless they produced a certificate from 
the Governor that no stamps were to be had. This the latter declined to 
give, and the vessels remained at the wharfs. The spectacle, however, of 
Colden quaking with fear in the fort, and the judicious advice of his coun- 
cil, soon convinced him of the folly of any attempt to carry the Act into 
execution ; and before his first meeting with the Assembly, he openly 
announced that he had suspended his power to execute the Stamp Act. 
To still further appease the people he dismantled the fort, very much to 
the disgust of the Lieutenant-Governor, who, not having been consulted, 
retired in chagrin to his country-seat at Flushing. 

Owing to the successive adjournments by Colden, the General 
Assembly met, for the first time this year, on the 13th of November. 
Only fourteen members, however, answering to their names, the Speaker 
announced the appointment of Sir Henry Moore to the government, and 
adjourned the Assembly to the 19th. 

The severest test, perhaps, of public opinion at this time, is to be 
found in the Governor's opening address, which was brief and general, 
and contained not the slightest allusion to the existing troubles. The 
answer of the House was equally guarded ; each party seeming to be 
averse to broach a topic that was so unpleasant to the other. But if the 
Assembly were unwilling to allude in their address to that which was now 
upon every mind, they showed no indisposition to handle it among them- 
selves. Among their first resolutions was one, not only approving the 
action of the committee in meeting with the Congress in October, but 
tendering them also, their warmest thanks for the part which they had 
taken in the deliberations of that body. In connection with this resolu- 



122 

tion they further resolved, nemine contradicente, " that for obtaining relief 
from the operation and execution of the Act of Parliament called the 
Stamp Act, humble petitions be presented to his Majesty, the House of 
Lords, and the House of Commons, as nearly similar to those drawn up 
by the late Congress as the particular circumstances of the colony 
will admit of." A committee was therefore appointed to draw up the 
three petitions, which, signed by William Nicoll, the Speaker, were for- 
warded, in the name of the House, to Mr. Charles and John Sargeant, 
the colony's agents in London. 

But the action of the Assembly did not keep pace with the public 
requirements ; at least, so thought the Sons of Liberty. On the 
26th, a sealed letter was handed by an unknown person to Mr. Lott, 
Clerk of the House, directed " to me. lott, merch't. in new york," and 
ran as follows : 

" On receiving you are to read the in closed in the open Assembly of this 
Province New York as you are dark and whare of fail not on your perrel. 

(Signed) " FREEDOM." 

The inclosed letter was directed " To the General Assembly of the 
Province of New York,'''' and was in the following words : 

" Gentlemen of the House of Representatives, you are to Consider what is to be 
Done first Drawing of as much money from the Lieut. Governor's Sallery as will 
Repare the fort & on Spike the Guns on the Battery & the nex a Repeal of the Gun- 
ning Act & then there will be a good Militia but not before & also as you are 
asetting you may Consider of the Building Act as rt is to take place nex yeare 
which it Cannot for there is no supply of Some Sort of materials Required this Law 
is not Ground on Reasons but there is a great many Reasons to the Contrary so 
Gentlemen we desire you will Do what lays in your power for the Good of the 
public but if you take this ill be not so Conceited as to Say or think that other 
People know nothing about Government you have made their laws and say they are 
Right but they are Rong and take a way Leberty. Oppressions of your make Gen- 
tlemen make us Sons of Liberty think you are not for the Public Liberty this is 
the General Opinion of the People for this part of Your Conduct. 
" 1705 "by order " Sign'd, one & all. 

" Nov'r 26 

" FREEDOM." 

Both of these letters — which, by the way, bear on their face unmis- 
takeable evidence of their being designedly written in this illiterate man- 
ner, probably for the greater disguise* — were laid before the House by 
the Clerk, who dared not refuse. But the Assembly were not disposed 
to have any such gratuitous advice ; nor was their patriotism yet attuned 
to the same accord with that of the writer. However much, moreover, 
hey might be disposod themselves, to criticise the unpopular Colden, 
tthey did not choose to be instructed by the ironical suggestion in rela 
tion to the Lieutenant-Governors salary and the spiked guns. They 

* The entire absence of punctuation in the same letter, with the correct abbre- 
viation of Sign'd and Nov'):, and the correct spelling of the more difficult words, 
show clearly the marks of design. 



123 

therefore resolved, that the said letters were rebellious, scandalous, and 
seditious ; that they were designed to inflame the t minds of the good 
people of the colony against their representatives ; and that an address 
should be presented to the Governor requesting him to offer a reward 
of fifty pounds for their author or authors, that they might be brought 
to " condign punishment; " pledging themselves, at the same time, to 
provide the means of defraying the above reward. 

On the 3d of December, the Governor, by Mr. Banyar, sent down 
a message to the House, in which the latter was informed that by the 
Mutiny Act, passed during the last session of Parliament, the expense of 
furnishing the King's troops in America with quarters and other necessa- 
ries, was to be defrayed by the several colonies. In consequence thereof 
the Commander-in-Chief had demanded that provision be made for the 
troops, whether quartered within or marching through the province ; and 
it was now requested to make provision accordingly. 

This request was at this time exceedingly inopportune. It involved a 
question which, in Lord Loudoun's time — when the country was engaged 
in a disastrous war, and when, therefore, there was a seeming necessity 
for such provision — had been productive of ill-feeling, and almost of riots. 
It may readily be seen, therefore, that when no such necessity existed, 
and when the public mind was in such an excited state, the Assembly 
were in no mood to comply. The message was accordingly referred 
to a committee of the whole House, of which Robert R. Livingston was 
the chairman. On the 19th they reported against it, on the following 
grounds : that when his Majesty's forces were quartered in barracks 
belonging to the King, they were always furnished with necessaries with- 
out any expense to the counties in which they were quartered ; and that 
if any expense was necessary for quartering troops on their march, and 
supplying them with what was required by the Act, the House would 
consider thereof after the expense was incurred. Sir Henry Moore was 
too prudent a man to press the matter further ; and having satisfied his 
duty to the Crown by the formal demand for quarters, he allowed the 
matter to drop for the present. 

The Sons of Liberty were still in the ascendant. The last week in 
November, two hundred of them crossed over to Flushing, and compelled 
the Maryland Stamp-Distributer, who had fled thither for safety, to sign 
a resignation of his office. In December, ten boxes of stamps were seized 
on their arrival in port and consumed in a bonfire. " We are in a shock- 
ing situation at present," wrote Alexander Colden to Sir William John- 
son, with whom the former was on terms of intimacy, " and God 
knows how it will end. Its not sate for a person to speak, for their is no 
knowing friend from foe." 

Opposition to the Stamp Act still continued. In January, 1 766, a com- 
mittee from the Sons of Liberty waited upon six persons in Albany and 



124 

requested them to take an oath that they would not accept the office of 
Stamp-Distributer. All but Henry Van Schaack, the Albany post-master, 
having complied, the mob went to the latter's house, a little below the 
city, broke the windows, furniture, and the piazza, and taking his pleasure- 
sleigh into town, consumed it in a bonfire. Alarmed at these demonstra- 
tions, Van Schaack took the required oath, and the mob dispersed. 

In New York City, the committee, of which Isaac Sears was chair- 
man, were still active. Having astertained by their secret agents in 
Philadelphia that a merchant, Lewis Pintard, had sent to that city a 
mediterranean pass and a bond on stamped paper, they waited upon the 
merchant and also upon the naval officer who had given the pass, on the 
12th of January, and compelling them to appear on the Common, forced 
them to swear before a crowd of eight thousand people, that the passes 
which they had signed and delivered were not stamped to their knowl- 
edge. Not satisfied, however, with this declaration, the committee con- 
ducted them to the coffee-house, before which a bonfire had been kindled, 
and obliged Pintard to commit the passes to the flames with his own 
hands. On the following day, Governor Moore, who, being of a timid 
and amiable nature, had a dread of becoming unpopular, sent for one of 
the committee, and said, in the course of the conversation, that he hoped 
the "gentlemen, his associates," did not suspect him of being cognizant 
of the mediterranean passes. Upon being informed that they did not> 
the Governor further stated, that he had solicited this interview to assure 
the Sons of Liberty, that not only was he ignorant of that transaction, 
but that he would have nothing to do with any stamps whatever. 

Alarmed at the rapid growth of republican principles in America, 
the seeds of which had been sown by its own folly, Parliament, on the 
18th of March, repealed the obnoxious Act. The British Legislature, 
however, yielded not with a good grace. " The colonists," wrote Sir 
William Baker to the Baronet, " must not think that these lenient 
methods were brought about by the inducements of their violence."* 
Fearing, therefore, that their action would be misconstrued, Parliament 
hastened, almost simultaneously with the repeal of the Stamp Act, to pass 
a bill, declaring the absolute right the King and Parliament "to bind the 
colonies and people of America, subjects of the Crown of Great Britain in all cases 
whatsoever" 

In the first delirium of delight at the repeal, the news of which was 

* "I hope the last session of Parliament has conciliated the North Americans to 
their mother country ; but at the same time it must be expected from them obedience 
to the laws of this government. The colonists must not think these lenient methods 
made use of by that administration were brought about by the inducement of their 
violence ; but was really the effect of conviction that the rash act past the two pre- 
ceding sessions was unwarrantable and oppressive." — J/". 8. ; Sir William Baker to 
Johnson, Nov. 7th, 1766. 



125 

communicated to the colonists by their agents, on the 16th of May, 
the tendency of the Declaratoiy Act was not heeded. In New York City, 
especially, the populace seemed wild with joy. Bells were rung, a royal 
salute of twenty-one guns fired, and the city illuminated. On the 4th 
of June, the Kings birthday, the Governor had an ox roasted whole, a 
hogshead of rum and twenty-five barrels of beer opened, and the people 
invited to join in the feast. On the same day a mast was erected, 
inscribed " To his most Gracious Majesty, George the Third, Mr. Pitt, 
and Liberty." But the enthusiasm of the people did not end here. On 
the 23d of June a meeting was held, at which a petition was signed 
by a majority of the citizens, requesting the Assembly to erect a statue 
to William Pitt, as a mark of their appreciation of his services in 
repealing the Stamp Act. That body entered fully into the feelings of the 
people ; and besides complying with the wishes of their constituents, in 
relation to Pitt, they made provision for an equestrian statue to his 
Majesty, George the Third ; and also voted their thanks, and a piece of 
plate, to John Sargeant, " for his services as special agent,'' during the 
Stamp Act controversy. 

The opening speech of Governor Moore to the Assembly, on the 
12th of June, began by adverting to the general satisfaction diffused 
among the people by the repeal of the Stamp Act. It was the impression 
made on the minds of the people by this act of his Majesty's favor, that 
had induced the Governor, so early, to call the Legislature, in order to 
give them the earliest opportunity of making those acknowledgments of 
duty and submission, which, on such an occasion, his Excellency thought 
must arise in the bosom of every individual. It then spoke of the 
impositions upon the credulity of the people by the misrepresentations of 
artful and designing men. " Let it be your concern," it continued, "to 
undeceive the deluded, and by your example, bring back to a sense of 
their duty, those who have been misled, that nothing which can carry with 
it the least resemblance ot former heat and prejudice may be suffered to 
prevail, and the minds of those who are too easily agitated be again dis- 
posed too a cheerful obedience to the laws, and to sentiments of respect- 
ful gratitude to the mother country." Their attention was next directed 
to the care of those unfortunate persons who had suffered from the 
''licentiousness of the populace for their deference to the British Legisla- 
ture," and they were requested to make full and ample compensation for the 
goods and effects of the sufferers, that had been destroyed. This latter 
suggestion was owing to circular letters from the Minister to the provin- 
cial Governors, requesting the colonial Assemblies to show their " respect- 
ful gratitude for the forbearance of Parliament," by indemnifying those 
who had suffered injury in attempting to execute the late Act. In con- 
nection with the opening speech, petitions were handed in by Lieutenant- 
Governor Colden and Major James, praying the Assembly to make good 



126 

their losses by the recent riots. These petitions were thereupon referred 
to a committee of the whole House, who reported favorably upon the 
claims of Major James, but passed over in silence those of the Lieutenant- 
Governor — very much to the chagrin of the latter, who forthwith wrote 
a letter to Conway, begging him to lay his case before the King, that his 
losses might be recompensed by a pension. 

The Governor now ventured again to request of the Assembly its 
compliance with the demands of the Ministry in relation to the quartering 
of troops, a large body of whom was shortly expected from England. 
But, although the House had joined with the Council in an humble 
address to the King, thanking him for the repeal of the Stamp Act, and 
although, moreover, it was perfectly willing to vote statues to his Majesty 
and William Pitt, it was no more disposed to comply with this demand, 
now that Parliament had yielded to its wishes, than it was at the pre- 
vious session, when the Stamp Act was in full force. The House accord- 
ingly voted a series of resolutions similiar in tone to those passed Novem- 
ber, 1765, and postponed further discussion on the subject until the 
troops had arrived. A second message, however, from Sir Henry Moore, 
induced it to alter its determination so far, as to state that the appropria- 
tions of 1762 were at his disposal, and might be applied towards providing 
barracks, fire-wood, and candles for two battalions and one company of 
artillery for one year. Beyond this, however, it would not go ; and the 
Governor, while he was obliged to be content with this decision, wrote at 
the same time to the Lords of Trade, that its partial compliance was more 
the result of compulsion, than of gratitude for recent favors ; and that, in 
his opinion, every act of Parliament, unless backed by a sufficient power 
to enforce it, would meet with the same fate. 

Meanwhile, troubles had arisen in Dutchess County, which, 
although in no way connected with the issues between the colonies and the 
mother country, at first threatened serious consequences. In the begin- 
ning of 1766, the Stockbridge Indians, feeling aggrieved by the intrusions, 
as they claimed, of some of the people of Dutchess upon their lands, 
broke into the houses of the alleged trespassers, and turned their fami- 
lies out of doors. As is generally the case on such occasions, several 
of the vagabond class of whites, very ready for a fray, joined the rioters, 
and committed acts of violence throughout the country. The excitement 
now extended into Albany County ; and the mob, now grown to formida- 
ble dimensions, threatened to attack New York City, and, indeed, actually 
began their march thither. In this exigency, General Gage (at that time 
Commander-in-Chief of his Majesty's troops in America) ordered up, to 
meet the insurgents, the Twenty-eighth Regiment, which had just arrived 
from England. The appearance of the troops soon brought the rioters 
to reason ; and having succeeded — though not without bloodshed — in 
restoring order, they returned to New York with the chief ringleaders 
of the rebellion. 



127 

The joyous feelings, which had followed the repeal of the Stamp Act, 
was of not long continuance. Hardly had the first gratulations of vic- 
tory passed, and sober reflection taken its place, when the Declaratory 
Act, in all its ominous proportions, loomed up, overshadowing the public 
mind with gloomy forebodings. The persistent attempt, moreover, to 
force the province into a compliance with the Mutiny Act — an act, 
which, to thinking men, seemed intended to provide the nucleus of a 
standing army — alarmed all classes ; and secret leagues were at once 
formed in most of the colonies, the object of which was to further union of 
council in resisting oppression. The partial compliance of the Assembly 
to the requisition of the Governor for quarters, had been exceedingly 
distasteful to the Sons of Liberty, who, upon the arrival of the troops, 
made no disguise of their feelings. Mutual animosities accordingly arose 
between the citizens and soldiery, which soon culminated in open acts of 
hostility. On the 10th of August, 1766, some of the troops, exasperated 
at the people, to whose influence they attributed the action of the Assem- 
bly in depriving them of liquor, cut down the flag-staff, which, with so 
much apparent unanimity, had been dedicated to " Pitt and Liberty." 
The following evening, while the citizens were preparing to re-erect the 
pole, they were assaulted by the soldiers with drawn bayonets, and sev- 
eral of them, among whom was Isaac Sears, were wounded. Governor 
Moore, who heartly wished the troops away, attempted, with General 
Gage, to restrain these outrages, and, to some extent, succeeded ; but the 
officers, intent upon gratifying their private malice, winked at the con- 
duct of their men, who, thus encouraged, became more violent than ever. 
Several dwellings of the poorer class, situated in the suburbs of the 
city were broken into on the 23d of October ; and, on he 3d day of 
November, the domestic sanctuary of an honest drayman was entered 
by a soldier, who, while he wounded its occupant, hesitated not to ham- 
string his horse, upon which he relied for his daily bread. 

These licentious proceedings were not calculated to dispose the 
Assembly any more favorably to the attempt to quarter the oboxious red- 
coats at their expense. Accordingly, when, on the 17th of November, 
Governor Moore laid before that body instructions from the Minister, 
informing them of the King's displeasure at their conduct ; their absolute 
duty to obey the Acts of Parliament ; and of his wish that provision for 
the troops should be immediately made, they refused outright to make 
further provision, choosing to interpret the Act as referring solely "to 
soldiers on the march." On this refusal, Governor Moore waited uj>on the 
House, and endeavored to prevail upon them to alter their determination. 
His efforts, however, were unavailing ; and having, by the defiant attitude 
thus assumed, no other alternative left, he prorogued the Assembly on the 
19th of December. 

Already the British Cabinet regretted the repeal of the Stamp Act ; 



128 

aud the project of taxing America was again resumed. The extravagant 
demonstrations of delight, manifested by the colonists at the repeal, had 
been regarded by British statesmen with ill-concealed disgust ; and when, 
in May. 1 < (37, the news was received that Georgia, following the example 
of New York, had also declined obedience to the Mutiny Act. the chagrin 
at having yielded became open and undisguised. Accordingly, in the 
same month, Tounshend introduced a bill into the House of Commons, 
imposing a duty on all paper, glass, tea, and painters' colors imported into 
the colonies. In its passage through Parliament the bill met with 
scarcely any opposition, and on the 28th of June it received the cordial 
assent and signature of the King. This was shortly followed by another, 
" to establish Commissioners of Customs in America," and also by one 
" to compensate the stamp officers who had been deprived by the people/' 
But by far the most important in its consequences was another, which 
received the royal assent on the 29th, and which declared that the f mictions 
of the Assembly of New York were henceforth annulled — the Governor and 
Council being forbidden to give their assent to any act passed by that 
body, " until the Mutiny Act was unequivocally acknowledged and sub- 
mitted to." The rebellious people of the colonies, said the authors of this 
Act, must be brought to unqualified submission, and the supremacy of 
Parliament be maintained. 

This latter Act, by far the deadliest blow that had yet been struck at 
their liberties, excited the utmost consternation throughout the American 
provinces. It was at once seen that if Parliament could, at pleasure, dis- 
franchise a sister colony, the same fate might, at any time, overtake the 
others. "This Act," wrote Richard Henry Lae, of Virginia, "hangs 
like a flaming sword over our heads, and requires, by all means, to be 
removed." The citizens of Boston, sympathizing deeply with the people 
of New York, expressed, in no measured terms, their indignation at what 
they styled ministerial tyranny. Tyranny it indeed was, and of the most 
inexcusable kind, inasmuch as it was not, as some have supposed, a tyranny 
into which the British Ministry were led blindly, or through ignorance 
of the consequences. "It is strange." says an elegant English 
writer,* " that the British Goverment should not have been apprehensive 
of the great and increasing danger in which its colonial dominion was 
involved." It is not, however, strange. The British government did it 
with open eyes, and clearly foresaw the results toward which its colonial 
policy was fast tending ; for while, in the spring of this year, the Chan- 
cellor of the Exchequer was pushing forward his schemes of taxation? 
General Gage was putting Fort George, Ticonderoga, and Crown Point on 
a thorough war footing, and Carleton, the Lieutenant-Governor of Canada, 
was adding new defenses to Quebec. "These measures," wrote the latter to 
the Commander-in-Chief, " will link these two provinces — New York and 

* Graham. 



129 

Quebec — so strongly together, as will add great security to both, and will 
facilitate the transfer of ten or fifteen thousand men, in the beginning of 
a war, from one to another, as circumstances may require ; " and in the 
same letter the writer suggests that a "place of arms " should be imme- 
diately established in New York, " for," he adds, " no pains, address, nor 
expense is too great, that will give security to the King's magazines ; 
divide the Northern and Southern colonies ; and afford an opportunity of 
transporting our forces into any part of the continent." 

The Assembly having expired by its septennial limitation on the 6th 
of February, 1768, writs were issued for a new election, returnable on 
the 22d of the following month. Owing, however, to the Governor having 
no special business to lay before the House, the new Assembly was not 
convened until the 27th of October. The opening speech of the Governor 
related chiefly to the Indian trade, which his Majesty had been pleased 
henceforward to confide to the colonies. " The advantages," said the 
Governor, "^arising, not only from the intercourse of trade with the 
Indians, but from the maintenance of that tranquility among them which 
subsists at present, are so obvious, as to require no arguments to enforce 
them. I shall, therefore, only recommend to you, that, to avoid any 
future cause of dissatisfaction or jealousy being given, you will, by the 
most effectual laws, prevent any settlements being made beyond the line 
which shall be agreed on by the Indians." In their reply, on the 3d of 
November, the House expressed its willingness to co-operate with the 
Governor in any measures for the better regulation of the Indian trade ; 
and, indeed, for the first two weeks of the session, nothing occurred to 
ruffle the general harmony of its proceedings. The critical posture of 
the province to the mother country, however, forbade that this state of 
quiescence should be lasting ; and it was not long before a direct issue 
arose between the Governor and his Assembly. 

The right of Parliament to tax America was still discussed with 
great freedom in all the colonies, but in none with more vigor than in 
Massachusetts. In February, the Assembly of that province had addressed 
a circular letter, drafted by Samuel Adams, to her sister colonies, in 
which the " great evils to w T hich the inhabitants of America were sub- 
jected from the operation of several acts of Parliament imposing taxes 
upon them," were set forth, and their co-operation solicited in obtain- 
ing redress. This proceeding, as may readily be imagined, gave great 
offense to the Ministry ; and Lord Hillsborough forthwith addressed a 
letter upon the subject to the several colonial Governors, requesting that 
their Assemblies should treat the circular letter with silent contempt. 
But the resentment of the mother country toward Massachusetts was not 
satisfied. It was determined to still further disgrace her, by detaching 
a strong military force to occupy her capital. The rumor that such a 
step was meditated by the Crown caused considerable comment, and 
9 



130 

when, on the 28th of September, two British regiments, accompanied by 
seven men-of-war, arrived at Boston from Halifax, the indignation, not 
only in Massachusetts, but in those colonies that sympathized with her, 
became intense. In Connecticut numerous town-meetings were held, in 
which it was resolved, first, " to seek the Lord, by general fasting, prayer, 
and humiliation, and then to call a convention of ninety-two persons to 
determine what was to be done in the present difficulties and distress." 
In New York City, especially, the Sons of Liberty felt deeply the indignity 
offered to their sister colony ; and in their first ebullition of anger, indig- 
nation meetings were held, and Governor Bernard and his Sheriff burned 
in effigy. 

Such was the state of public sentiment, when, on the 1 4th of Novem- 
ber. Sir Henry Moore laid before the House the Earl of Hillsborough's 
letter, forbidding correspondence with Massachusetts, and called upon it 
to render a cheerful obedience to the wishes of the Secretary. This action 
of the Governor was met by a warm remonstrance from the Assembly ; 
and when, a few days after, the former threatened to dissolve it in case 
of its not complying, it unhesitatingly refused obedience. The bold stand 
thus assumed was warmly seconded by public opinion, as appears con- 
spicuously in the newspapers and private correspondence of the day. A 
series of articles, which had recently appeared under the title of " Letters 
from a Farmer in Pennsylvania to the Inhabitants of the British Colonies," 
had paved the way for a fearless utterance against ministerial oppression. 
"Let these truths," said the leaders of the people in New York, "be 
indelibly impressed upon our minds, that we cannot be free without 
being secure in our property ; that we cannot be secure in our property 
if, without our consent, others may, as by right, take it away ; that taxes 
imposed by Parliament do thus take it away ; that duties, laid for the 
sole purpose of raising money, are taxes ; and that attempts to lay such 
should be instantly and firmly opposed." 

While, however, the Assembly were thus firm in maintaining its 
constitutional rights and privileges, it evinced no disposition to counte- 
nance acts of lawless violence ; and in reply to a message from the 
Governor on the 23d, asking its aid in bringing to punishment the ring- 
leaders in a recent riot, it reported a series of resolutions which distinctly 
set forth, that although it felt deeply the course of Parliament toward 
them, yet, so far from approving of any violent proceedings, it would on 
all occasions endeavor to support the dignity and authority of govern- 
ment. The riot, to which allusion is here made, had occurred on the 14th 
of November, and had been the result of new exactions, by way of imposts, 
of the Parliament upon the colonies ; and while the reply of the House, 
as intimated, strongly censured the rioters, yet it also condemned the new 
duties in terms equally severe. This address gave little satisfaction to the 
representative of the Crown ; and on the last day of the year it was fol- 



131 

lowed by a series of strong constitutional resolutions, among which was 
one declaring that it was the opinion of the Committee " that the House 
had an undoubted right to correspond and consult with any of the neigh- 
boring colonies on any matter, subject, or thing whatever, whereby they 
should conceive the rights and liberties of the House to be in any way 
affected." 

These resolutions gave high displeasure ; and Sir Henry Moore, 
having convened the Assembly in the City Hall on the afternoon of the 
3d of January, 1769, dissolved it by a speech of evident irritation, yet of 
affected regret and sorrow at the occasion demanding the summary 
measure. Writs for a new election were immediately issued, returnable 
on the 14th of February. The people, however, sustained the action of 
their representatives, and all the former members, with the exception of 
six, were returned by overwhelming majorities. Such was the result of 
the first direct appeal of the Crown to the people on the subject of the 
great constitutional principles of liberty, which were now beginning to 
•agitate the political waters to their deepest fountains. 

Notwithstanding, however, the fact that most of the old members 
were returned, the election was hotly contested. " I hear," wrote Sir 
William Johnson, jocularly, to a friend in New York, " that you are likely 
to have a hot election, and probably there will be work for shillalahs." 
Nor was the writer far out in his conjecture. At no time for many years 
had the excitement been more intense, and every means and device was 
made use of to secure votes. In New York City, especially, the 
contest was between the church-party and the dissenters* — the for- 
mer being led by the De Lanceys and the latter by the Livingstons. 
" It is surprising," writes Peter Van Schaak to his brother Henry, under 
date of January 27, 1769, " what trifles can be turned to the greatest 
advantage in elections and be made to captivate the passions of the vul- 
gar. A straw, a fire-brand, have severally answered this purpose in a 
recent instance. It was said during the last election, that T. Smith had 
said that the Irish were poor beggars, and had come over here upon a 
bunch of straw. The whole body of Irishmen immediately joined and 
appeared with straws in their hats. Mr. Kissam, who summed up the 
evidence for Mr. Scott in the late charge against Mr. Jauncey, happened 
to say that the passions of the Germans were fire-brands. A whole con- 
gregation were, in consequence of that, resolved to vote with them in 
their hands, but being dissuaded, they however distinguished themselves 
by the name of the lirehrcmds. These gentlemen have also made them- 



* And not between the lawyers and the merchants as such, as stated by Miss 
Booth. This writer also makes the prorogation of the Assembly, by Governor Moore, 
occur in 1768, a, year previous. This is, however, probably a typographical error. 



132 

selves remarkable by a song in the German language, the chorus of which 

is, 

" Maester Cruger, De Lancey, 
Maester Walton and Jauncey." 

" 'Twas droll to see some of the first gentlemen in town joining in 
singing these songs, while they conducted the members to the Coffee- 
House." " I arrived here St. John's day,'" writes another person at the 
same time from New York to a friend, " when there was a grand proces- 
sion of the whole Masonic fraternity, and a very excellent sermon preached 
by Dr. Auchmuthy, at Trinity Church, on the occasion. At the same 
time a collection was made for the city, which I think amounted to £200. 
Would you think it, but it is true, that the Presbyterians immediafely 
labored to convert this charitable affair to the disadvantage of the Church 
of England and the part which they take in the election ensuing ? Will" 
Smith and W. Livingston got an old rascally sermon, called ' Masonry, 
the suke Guide to Hell,' reprinted, and distributed it with great assi- 
duity, and there is this day an extraordinary Lodge 
held on the occasion in order to consult means to resent the affront." The 
church-party, having the support of the mercantile and Masonic interests, 
was triumphant, and John Cruger, James De Lancey, Jacob Walton, and 
James Jauncey, were elected by the city. 

On the 4th of April, 1769, the new Assembly met. John Cruger 
was immediately chosen Speaker, and it was not long before another 
proof was afforded of the strength of the church-party in the House. 
•• The De Lancey interest," wrote Hugh Wallace, a member of the Coun- 
cil, to Sir William Johnson, " prevails in the House greatly, and they have 
given the Livingston interest proof of it by dismissing P. Livingston the 
House as a non-resident." The Livingstons, however, were not entirely 
crushed, for the same writer adds : " It is said he will be returned again 
and again, and so become another Wilkes." 

The opening speech of Governor Moore contained not the remotest 
reference to the difficulties which had caused the recent dissolution, but 
referred only to the manner in which the the colony's agent in London 
was appointed, a mode which his Excellency thought objectionable, he 
being of the opinion that the appointment of an agent should 
be made by an act of the Governor, Council, and Assembly, specially 
passed for that purpose, as had formerly been the case. The change in 
the manner of appointing the colonial agent had been first introduced 
during the administration of Governor Clinton in 1747, in the appoint- 
ment of Robert Charles, without the former's privity or consent. Clinton 
had complained bitterly at the time of the innovation, but without effect ; 
it was, therefore, not likely that an Assembly, having had their own way 
in this matter for upward of twenty years, would now yield. Accord- 
ingly, in their reply, they utterly declined adopting the mode which his 



133 

Excellency had recommended. This, of course, gave great dissatisfaction 
to the Governor, who on the 20th of May prorogued the Assembly to the 
month of July ; not, however, until that body had voted, with a very ill 
grace, £1,800 for the support of his Majesty's troops quartered in the 
colony. 

The death of Sir Henry Moore on the 11th of September, 1769, 
threw a gloom over the entire city. His polished manners, courteous 
address, and genial disposition had endeared him to many in the colony. 
Although forced oftentimes as the representative of the Crown to come 
in collision with the popular sentiment, yet such occasions were evidently 
so distasteful to him that many who were his bitter political enemies 
regarded him with cordial good-will. By his death the reins of govern- 
ment fell, for the third time, into the hands of Doctor Golden, who, as 
Lieutenant- Governor, opened the fall session of the Assembly on the 22d 
of November. 

Appearances seemed to indicate a stormy session. Massachusetts 
had just passed a series of spirited resolutions against the military and 
naval force stationed at her capital. The Assembly of Virginia, late in 
the spring, had been dissolved by the new Governor, Lord Botetourt, for 
its presumption in sending Massachusetts words of encouragement and 
support. The refusal, moreover, of the House of Commons, in March, to 
receive the representative of the New York Assembly, had excited the 
apprehensions of those of the colonists who had hitherto been warmly 
attached to the Crown. " I must confess," wrote Sir William Johnson, 
in September, " that the aspect of affairs at home is very unpleasing, and 
ought to give concern to every well-wisher of his country, because what- 
ever reason or justice there may be in the late steps, there is a probability 
of their being carried further than a good man can wish for." 

Contrary, however, to general expectation, during the fall and winter 
session, there were no collisions between the Executive and the Legisla- 
ture, although the spirited resolutions of Virginia, of the preceding May, 
were unanimously concurred in. On the first day of the session a bill 
was introduced for emitting one hundred and twenty thousand pounds in 
bills of credit, to be put out on loan, as a means of revenue. The bill 
was at first hailed with delight by the leaders of the popular party, who 
thought they discerned in it a desire, on the part of the Executive, to 
gratify the wish of the people. When, however, it was followed on the 
15th of December, by a motion to grant two thousand pounds for the 
support of his Majesty's troops in the colony, which sum was to be taken 
out of the interest arising from the loan bill when it should become a law, 
a complete revulsion of feeling took place ; and they now saw only an 
attempt, on the part of the Lieutenant-Governor, to compel the Assembly 
into an unconditional submission to the Mutiny Act. Accordingly, the 
first sight that greeted the citizens, on the morning of the 17th, was a 



134 

flaming placard posted up in the most conspicuous portions of the city, 
addressed, " To the Betrayed Inhabitants of the City and Colony of 
New York," and signed " A Son of Liberty." This placard declared 
that the granting of money to the troops was implicitly acknowledging 
the authority that had enacted the revenue acts, which had been passed 
for the express purpose of taking money out of the pockets of the colo- 
nists without their consent ; that what made the granting of money the 
more grevous was, that it went to the support of troops kept, not to pro- 
tect, but to enslave them ; that this was the view taken of the Mutiny 
Act by the Assemblies of Massachusetts and South Carolina — therefore, 
let not the Assembly of New York tell their disgrace in Boston, nor 
publish it in the streets of Charleston ! The Assembly, moreover, had 
not been attentive to the liberties of this continent, nor to the prosperity 
of the good people of this colony. This sacrifice of the public interest 
it attributed to a corrupt source which it scrupled not to affirm, in plain 
words, was an infamous coalition recently entered into between the Execu- 
tive and the De Lancey family for this very object. In conclusion, the 
placard advised all the people to assemble the following day in " the 
fields" (the Park), there to express their sentiments upon a point so vital 
to colonial liberty. 

The large concourse of people gathered in "the fields" at the time 
appointed, clearly showed how in unison with the public feeling were the 
sentiments uttered in the placard of the previous day. The object of 
the gathering was set forth by John Lamb, one of the most prominent 
of the Sons of Liberty, and the question asked, whether the citizens 
would uphold the recent action of the Assembly. The emphatic "No " that 
at once arose from the vast throng was a sufficient answer to this ques- 
tion ; and a committee of seven was immediately appointed to carry this 
public expression of feeling to the Legislature. But however much that 
body may have regretted their partial committal to the loan bill, they did 
not choose to be dictated to by a meeting which they considered little 
better than a mob. Accordingly, the consideration of the placard having 
been made the first order of the following day, James De Lancey moved 
that " the sense of the House should be taken whether the said paper was 
not an infamous and scandalous libel." The question being put, all the 
members voted in the affirmative, except Colonel Schuyler, who, when his 
name was called, with admirable moral courage, fearlessly answered in 
the negative. A series of resolutions was then passed condemning 
the paper as false, seditious, and infamous, and requesting the Lieuten- 
ant-Governor to offer a reward of one hundred pounds for its author or 
authors. Immediately after the passage of these resolutions, Mr. De 
Lancey laid before the House another hand-bill, in which the late pro- 
ceedings of that body were strongly condemned, signed " Legion." 
Resolves were at once passed, similar in tone to those just noticed, and 
an additional reward of fifty pounds offered for the writer of this also. 



135 

Nothing worthy of special mention occurred during the remainder of 
this session. John Lamb, it is true, three days after the passage of 
the resolutions, was arraigned before the House on suspicion of being 
the author of the libelous hand-bill ; but nothing being proved against 
him he was immediately discharged. The General Assembly having 
now been convened more than two months, and its members being now 
anxious to return to their homes, Lieutenant-Governor Colden signed 
several acts among them one for appointing commissioners from the 
neighboring colonies to agree upon a plan for regulating the Indian 
trade, and on the 27th of January, 1770, prorogued it to the second Tues- 
day in March, and from time to time afterward to the 11th of December. 

Meanwhile, the hatred between the soldiers and the Sons of Liberty 
daily gained strength. The former had long writhed under the undis- 
guised disgust with which they were treated by the latter, and only waited 
for an opportunity to repay this scorn with interest. Hitherto, they had 
been restrained through motives of policy ; and now that the supplies 
were granted, they threw off all restraint, and resolved to insult their 
enemies in the most tender spot. Accordingly, on the 18th of January, a 
portion of the Sixteenth Regiment attempted to destroy the liberty-pole, 
by sawing of its spars and blowing it up with gunpowder. A knot of 
citizens having gathered round while they were thus engaged, they 
desisted for the present from the attempt, and charging upon the group 
with fixed bayonets, drove them into a tavern, kept by Montagnie, and a 
favorite resort of the Sons of Liberty, broke the windows, and demolished 
a portion of the furniture. Three days afterward, however, they suc- 
ceeded in their design, and having, on the night of the 16th, cut the 
obnoxious symbol in pieces, piled its fragments in front of Montagnie's 
door. Incensed at this daring insult, three thousand citizens assembled 
early the following morning at the scene of the outrage, and adopted, 
among others, a resolution that all soldiers found in the streets after roll- 
call, " should be treated as enemies to the peace of the city ; " mutually 
pledging themselves to see that this resolve was vigorously enforced. 
Early the next morning insulting placards were found posted up in vari- 
ous parts of the city, ridiculing the resolutions of the previous day, and 
daring the citizens to carry them into execution. In the course of the 
day three soldiers were discovered by Sears and others in the act of post- 
ing up more of these hand-bills ; and a skirmish ensuing, the citizens 
having obtained the upper hand, were conducting the offenders to the 
office of the Mayor, when they were met by a band of twenty additional 
troops. A general fight with cutlasses and clubs now followed, the 
military slowly retreating to Golden Hill.* At this point they were met 
by a party of officers, who immediately ordered their men to the barracks, 

* John street, between Cliff street and Burling Slip. 



136 

and the riot was quelled. In this brush, several citizens were wounded 
and one killed, although the soldiers were generally worsted. The fol- 
lowing day witnessed a number of frays, none of which, however, were 
attended with loss of life ; and on the 20th, the Mayor having issued a 
proclamation forbidding the soldiers to come out of the barracks unless 
accompanied by a non-commissioned officer, the excitement was quieted 
and order once more restored.* On the 5th of February another pole 
was erected, inscribed " Liberty and Property," on ground purchased for 
the purpose, where it remained until cut down in 1776, by the British 
soldiery, at that time occupying the city. 

Meanwhile the Sons of Liberty were undaunted. In February, one 
hundred of them purchased of Colonel Morris a house for six hundred 
pounds — each of them contributing six pounds — in which to celebrate the 
repeal of the Stamp Act ; and having, on the 19th of March, drank forty- 
five popular toasts, they proceeded to the jail where Captain McDougall 
was confined for being the author of the libelous hand-bill of the pre- 
vious December, saluted him with forty-five cheers, and quietly dispersed. 

In Boston the feeling between the citizens and soldiery was even 
more embittered. The news of the recent occurrences in New York was 
not calculated to sooth this mutual animosity ; and when, on the 2d of 
March, an affray took plack at Gray's rope-walk, between a citizen and a 
soldier, in which the latter was worsted, it required but a small degree of 
forecast to anticipate an approaching explosion. Three days afterward, 
on the evening of the 5th, a sentinel, who had wantonly abused a lad, was 
surrounded in King street by a mob of boys, and pelted with snow-balls< 
made of the lightsnowthat had just fallen. "They are killing thesentinel!" 
shouted a bystander to the main guard. Instantly a file of six soldiers, headed 
by a corporal and followed by Preston, the officer of the day, rushed to 
the rescue, at a double-quick step, with fixed bayonets. A crowd gathered 
round, and the musket of a soldier being hit by a stick thrown from the 
throng, Preston gave the order to fire. Montgomery, the man whose mus- 
ket had been hit, immediately fired, and Attucks, a mulatto, who had been 
quietly looking on, fell dead on the spot. Six others, thereupon, taking 
deliberate aim, fired in succession at the crowd, who were already begin- 



* " We are all in confusion in this city ; the soldiers have cut and blowed up 
the Liberty Pole, and have caused much trouble between the inhabitants. On 
Friday last, between Burling Slip and Fly Market, was an engagement between the 
inhabitants and the soldiers, when much blood was spilt ; one sailor got run through 
the body, who since died ; one man got his skull cut in the most cruel manner. On 
Saturday the Hall-bell rang for an alarm, when was another battle between the 
inhabitants and soldiers ; but the soldiers met with rubbers, the chiefest part being 
sailors with clubs to revenge the death of their brother, which they did with courage, 
and made them all run to their barracks. What will be the end of this, God 
knows." — Letter from "New York, Jan. 22d, 1770," in St. James Chronicle, or the 
British Ecemng Post, March 15th, 1770. 



137 

ning to disperse. Three of the citizens, including the mulatto, were 
instantly killed, and of eight others who were wounded, two died shortly 
afterward from their injuries. 

It has usually been asserted by historians, that the first blood in the 
war of the American Revolution was shed at Lexington ; but such is not 
the fact. The Battle oe Golden Hill, on the 18th of January, 1770, was 
the beginning of that contest, so fearful in its commencement, so doubt- 
ful in its progress, and so splendid in its results. The storm had now 
been gathering for several years, and the public mind had become exceed- 
ingly feverish, not only in respect to the conduct of the parent govern- 
ment, but in regard to the language and bearing of the officers of the 
Crown stationed in the colonies. The destruction of the Liberty Pole 
increased the mutual exasperation ; and the fight that followed was but the 
natural consequence. To the City of New York, therefore, must ever be 
given the honor of striking the first blow. The town was thrown into com- 
motion, the bells rang, and the news, with the exaggerations and embel- 
lishments incident to all occasions of alarm, spread through the country 
with the rapidity of lightning. Everywhere, throughout the wide extent 
of the old thirteen colonies, it created a strong sensation, and was received 
with a degree of indignant emotion, which very clearly foretold that blood 
had only commenced flowing. The massacre in King street, two months 
later, added intensity to the flame ; and although five years intervened be- 
fore the demonstration at Lexington, there were too many nervous pens 
and eloquent tongues in exercise to allow these feelings to subside, or the 
noble spirit of liberty that had been awakened to be quenched. " Such 
stirring orations as those of Joseph Warren were not uttered in vain ; 
and often were the people reminded by him, or by his compatriots of 
kindred spirit — ' The voice of your brethren's blood cries to you from the 
ground ! ' The admonition had its effect, and the resolutions of ven- 
geance sank deeper and deeper, until the fullness of time should come ! " 

On the 18th of October, 1770, John, Earl of Dunmore, arrived in 
New York to occupy the gubernatorial chair, left vacant by the lamented 
Sir Henry Moore. The new Governor is described, in a letter to Sir 
William Johnson, as " a very active man, fond of walking and riding, and 
a sportsman." This description affords a clue to the character of the man 
— easy in his disposition, and one who preferred the delights of the chase 
to controversies with his Legislature. There was little likelihood, however 
of his being troubled with a body that had of late grown very subservient. 
The news, moreover, which he brought with him of his Majesty's con- 
sent to the bill authorizing the emission of a colonial currency, increased 
the spirit of loyalty; and when, in his opening speech on the 11th of 
December, he expressed his pleasure that the example of the loyal sub- 
jects of the province had been the means of restoring friendly feelings and 
confidence between the parent country and the colonists, the address of the 



Assembly, in reply, was a simple echo. During the entire session, there- 
fore, the wheels of government rolled smoothly ; and at its close, on the 
10th of February, 1771, the loan bill was passed, as was also the one 
for appropriating two thousand pounds for the support of the troops. 
The Crown had seemingly triumphed ; but the end was. not yet. 

On the 8th of July, 1771, Sir William Tryon, Bart., having rendered 
himself odious to the people of North Carolina by his petty tyranny, 
arrived in New York, bearing his Majesty's commission as Governor and 
Commander-in-Chief, in the place of Lord Dunmore, who was transferred 
to the Government of Virginia. 

The General Assembly, which had been prorogued to the 7th day of 
August, 1771, was now further prorogued from time to time to the 7th 
of January, 1772, when it again met, and on the 8th, the session was 
opened for business by a speech from the new Governor, of a mild and 
conciliatory character. His arrival had been greeted by affectionate 
addresses of congratulation, to which he referred with apparent warmth. 
His recent cruel conduct in North Carolina was then justified as a merito- 
rious effort to preserve the constitution and the laws; and in seeming 
mockery, his late wonderful achievement in that province — of dispersing 
with over one thousand armed troops an unarmed and inoffensive crowd — 
was attributed to the special favor of a kind Providence. The necessity 
of passing a good militia bill was then pointed out ; and the thorough 
repairing of the fortifications of the city, which had become greatly injured 
by the weather, was also recommended as worthy of immediate attention. 
" Influenced only," he added, with consummate flattery, " by principles 
that flow from an honest heart, I feel an ardent desire to co-operate with 
you in every measure that will best promote the honor and dignity of his 
Majesty's government, and advance the real felicity of a people eminently 
distinguished by their loyalty to the best of sovereigns, and affectionate 
disposition to their mother country." The address sent in to the Governor 
by the House, on the 17th, was conceived in the same spirit that dictated 
the opening speech. It accorded high praise to the brief administration 
of the Earl of Dunmore, for its equity, impartiality, and disinterestedness; 
and expressed strong confidence in the wisdom which was to mark that 
of his Lordship's immediate successor, as shown more particularly in his 
beneficent administration of his former government ! 

Indeed, it seemed as if in this address the last lingering embers of 
resistance to ministerial tyranny in the Colony of New York had expired. 
A few staunch patriots, such as Philip Schuyler, it is true, still remained 
in the Assembly, but their voices were powerless to turn back the tide 
which now rolled in from the ocean of ministerial patronage. William 
Tryon, a man fully as subservient as Hutchinson, without his ability, 
backed by the Upper House, and rendered, moreover, independent of the 
colony by a recent order of the Crown that his salary should hereafter 



139 

be paid from the revenue chest, was well fitted for the purpose for which 
he had been transferred to the chair lately occupied by the mild but 
passive and inefficient Dunmore. Indeed, if anything was wanting to 
show the subserviency of the present Assembly, it was supplied by the 
utter indifference with which this attempt to render the Executive 
independent of the people was received. In former Assemblies, such 
an announcement would have been met with an outburst of indis:- 
nation before which no Governor could have stood ; but now a 
message from Tryon in February, refusing to receive a salary from 
the people, produced not a word of comment, and the removal of this 
strong bulwark of their liberties was quietly acquiesced in. Far differ- 
ent, however, was the action of the Assemblies of Massachusetts and the 
other colonies, to whom the ministerial instruction in relation to salaries 
also extended. In the former body, especially, the recent Act of Parlia- 
ment was boldly denounced ; other colonial Legislatures did the same. 
New York was silent. True men looked on in amazement, and in anxious 
expectation strained their eyes for the first rays of the day-star of hope. 

But while the representatives of the people were thus unmindful of 
their liberties, they were more attentive to the local interests of the 
colony. At the close of the present session many praiseworthy acts were 
passed ; and among them one for founding the present New York Hos- 
pital, and another for dividing Albany County into three counties, Albany, 
Tryon, and Charlotte. 

Meanwhile, blind to their own interests, the Ministry thought only 
of reducing their " rebellious subjects" into submission. Mortified and 
exasperated at the signal failure to foist the Stamp Act upon the colo- 
nists, they were ready to embrace any scheme which promised to soothe 
their wounded pride. An opportunity for doing this soon came. The 
East India Company were now suffering severely from the effect of the 
non-importation agreements. Unable to make their annual payments to 
the Government of £1,400,000, they found themselves in the spring of 1773, 
with 17,000,000 chests of tea on their hands, on the very verge of bank- 
ruptcy. In this state of affairs, the Company in April petitioned Parlia- 
ment for permission to export their teas to America, and other countries, 
free of duty. This request, however, the Ministry, jealous of relinquish- 
ing in the least their right to tax the colonies, would not grant, but, by a 
special Act of Parliament passed on the 10th of June, allowed the Com- 
pany to ship their tea to America free of any export duty — thus putting 
it in the power of the Company to sell their tea at a lower price in 
America than in England. No Act that the home government had hith- 
erto passed, showed more plainly its utter inability to comprehend the 
great principle for which the colonists were contending, than this. It 
was clear that the Ministry supposed that the motive of the colonists in 
resisting taxation was merely of a sordid nature. This idea was in itself 



140 

sufficiently humiliating ; and now, when by making concessions to the 
East India Company, a direct attempt was made to buy them off by an 
appeal to their pockets, the indignation of the colonists was raised to the 
highest pitch. 

The plan of union as proposed by Virginia, and which had now been 
adopted by all the New England colonies, rendered concert of action 
much easier than heretofore. Accordingly, as soon as it was known that 
the tea ships were on their way to America, measures were immediately 
taken to prevent the landing of their cargoes. The non-importation 
agreements, which had of late grown lax, became again stringent ; 
and the correspondence between the vigilant committees of the several 
colonies was renewed with greater activity than ever. On the 18th of 
October, 1773, the inhabitants of Philadelphia assembled in the State 
House ; and having in several spirited resolutions denied the right of 
Parliament to tax America, and denounced the duty on the tea, compelled 
the agents of the East India Company, by the mere force of public 
opinion, to resign. In Boston the patriots were no less active. Town 
meetings were constantly held, and committees appointed to confer with 
committees from the neighboring towns, upon the best method of " pre- 
venting the landing and sale of the teas exported from the East India 
Company." Unlike, however, the excitement produced by the Stamp Act, 
everything was now done "decently and in order." The burning of the 
Gaspe in the waters of the Naragansett, on the night of the 17th of 
June, 1772, was suggestive. On the night of the 16th of December, 
1773, three tea ships, which lay moored at Griffin's Wharf, were boarded 
by a party of men disguised as Mohawk Indians, and their cargoes, con- 
sisting of three hundred and forty chests of tea, thrown into the waters 
of the bay. 

Nor was New York behind her sister colonies in resisting this new 
feature of ministerial oppression. Two days after the meeting in Phila- 
delphia, the Sons of Liberty held a public meeting, in which they 
denounced in unequivocal terms the importation of the hateful article ; 
and declared with such effect that tea-commissioners were fully as obnox- 
ious as stamp-distributers, that the commissioners appointed for New 
York forthwith resigned. Public sentiment, moreover, was not confined 
merely to resolves. A remark of Governor Tryon that " the tea should be 
delivered to the consignees, even if it was sprinkled with blood," was not 
calculated to pour oil upon the troubled waters ; and so soon as it was 
known that consignments of tea would shortly reach the city, another 
mass-meeting of the citizens was held at their old rendezvous — " the 
fields" — to devise measures for preventing the landing of the tea from 
a vessel which was hourly expected. Hardly had the people assembled, 
when Whitehead Hicks, the Mayor, hastened to the meeting, charged 
with a message from the Governor, to the effect that when the vessel 



141 

arrived, the tea should be publicly taken from the ship into the fort, and 
there kept until the advice of the Council could be taken, or the King's 
order could be known. The moment was critical, but John Lamb — by 
whose influence undoubtedly the meeting had been called — at once saw 
through the artifice. He immediately arose and addressed the Assembly. 
After giving a summary of the grievances which had brought them 
together, he read the Act of Parliament which prescribed the payment 
of the duty if the article was landed, and then asked, " Shall the tea be 
landed ?" A unanimous " NO ! " repeated three times, clearly showed the 
mind of his audience. 

But this spirit of resistance to Parliamentary usurpation was not 
shared in by the Assembly, whose members were more subservient than 
ever. Notwithstanding the conduct of the Governor, they did not hesi- 
tate in the spring session to vote five thousand pounds toward rebuilding 
the government house, which had been recently destroyed by fire ; and 
in response to his opening speech, in which they were informed that he 
had been called home to confer with the Ministry in relation to the New 
Hampshire grants, they expressed the hope that his return to a grateful 
people would be speedy. Indeed, as Mr. Dunlop remarks, if the number 
of compliments paid him upon his departure was any test, it would seem 
as if he was very much beloved. Several of the loyalists residing in the 
city gave him a public dinner ; General Haldimand, who had succeeded 
Gage as Commander-in-Chief, honored him with a ball ; corporations and 
societies vied in presenting addresses ; King's College created him a 
doctor in civil law ; and the General Assembly tendered him an address, 
in which, after expressing their appreciation of the uprightness and integ- 
rity of his conduct, they added, in yet more fulsome eulogy, that they 
thought it their duty, as the representatives of a free and happy people, 
to pay this tribute of applause and acknowledgment to a Governor who 
had so eminently distinguished himself by his constant attention to their 
care and prosperity. The Governor, in return, thanked them for 
their " truly loyal and affectionate address;" and having, on the 19th of 
March, summoned the General Assembly to his house, gave his assent to 
the acts that had been passed, and closed the session by prorogation. 

Thus ended the third session of the Legislature of the colony and 
the administration of Governor Tryon, without having in a single 
instance come into collision with his Excellency, or even with the Legis- 
lative Council, save in the matter of a disagreement between the two 
bodies in respect to an amendment to the militia bill, proposed by the 
Council, but to which the House disagreed. An attempt was made in 
the Council, on motion of Mr. Smith, to obtain a conference, but the 
proposition was voted down. The amendment referred to, according to 
the reasons of dissent recorded by Mr. Smith, was an invasion of the royal 
prerogative ; and had the bill been passed in the shape insisted upon by the 



142 

House, Mr. Smith, maintained that it would have received the Governor's 
negative. According to the reasons of dissent, the rejection of the amend- 
ment of the Council evinced a determination by the House to control 
the action of the Governor in commanding the services of the militia, while 
there were indications that their services would be required to quell insur- 
rection in the New Hampshire grants. Mr. Smith set forth that a sim- 
ilar amendment sent to the House in 1772 had been concurred in by 
that body, and that no reason was perceptible justifying a change of sen- 
timents upon the question ; and he thought a friendly conference might 
induce the House to yield. Other reasons for his assent were given ; and 
he referred to open surmises abroad, that the Legislature was losing its 
confidence in the Governor, and the loss of the bill with the provision in 
question might be viewed as an evidence that the Legislature had not 
been " sincere in the testimonials they had given and justly awarded to his 
Excellency for an administration wise and impartial, fair and generous, 
and steadily conducted upon principles unbiased by party feuds, and 
acknowledged to be equally friendly to the rights of the Crown and the 
weal of the colony." But the conference was not asked, and in fact there 
was no collision. 

This profound tranquility which had succeeded the election of the 
present General Assembly in 1770, Avas the more remarkable from the 
raging of the political elements all around New York, and from the cir- 
cumstances under which the preceding Assembly had been dissolved, and 
the feelings attending the new election. The preceding Assembly had 
been dissolved for its strong declaration of those constitutional principles 
which had been planted in the bosoms of the colonists from their settle- 
ment, and which were striking deeper root every hour and yet, neither 
under Sir Henry Moore, who had dissolved the preceding, and summoned 
the present Legislature, nor under Lord Dunmore, nor under Governor 
Tryon, had a breeze moved upon the political waters, so far as the Legis- 
lature was concerned, save only by its concurrence in the Virginia resolu- 
tions of May, 1769 ; nor did that act of concurrence occasion any visible 
agitation. But it was the deep, solemn calm, which often precedes the 
lightning and the whirlwind ! 

But the storm was to break sooner than was anticipated. The utter- 
ances of James Otis and Patrick Henry had created a tide of public feel- 
ing which ordinary barriers were powerless to resist. Events followed 
each other in startling rapidity. On the night of the 22d of April, 1774, 
the Sons of Liberty, following the example of their Boston neighbors, 
and like them also disguised as Mohawks, threw over a cargo of tea, 
brought by the Nancy, iato the waters of New York Bay. New York, 
imitating the example of her sister colonies, formed a Provincial Con- 
gress in opposition to the regular Assembly, whose members still 
remained lukewarm, and appointed five delegates to the Continental 



143 

Congress which had already convened in Philadelphia. Tryon, in a 
maze at the turn affairs had taken, sailed, as we have seen, for England 
on the 7th of April, 1774, to represent to the Ministry the alarming state 
of things in the colonies. The Province of New York was ordered by 
the Continental Congress to contribute her quota of three thousand men 
to the general defense. The battle of Lexington had been followed by 
the battle of Bunker Hill ; the brave Montgomery was preparing to under- 
take his ill-fated expedition against Quebec ; and Putnam, and Heath, and 
Pomeroy, and a score of brave spirits laid close siege to Boston. 

Such was the condition of affairs when Washington, on the 21st of 
June, 1775, set out from Philadelphia for Boston, with the purpose of 
taking New York in his way. All disguise had now been thrown off; 
and it was his purpose to place that important post under the command 
of one of his generals upon whom he could rely. But the approach of 
Washington toward the city threw the Provincial Congress into a quan- 
dary. It had usurped the powers of Governor Tryon in his absence, 
while professing at the same time a semi-loyalty to the parent govern- 
ment. To add also to its perplexity, Tryon, who had just arrived from 
England, was in the lower bay and might arrive at the wharf at any 
moment. A middle course was therefore adopted. The militia was 
ordered out and the commanding officer directed " to pay military honors 
to whichever of the distinguished functionaries should first arrive." As 
it chanced, Washington arrived first on the 25th, and was escorted into 
the city by a committee of the Provincial Congress, by whom he had 
been met at Newark. As soon as the customary military honors had 
been paid, Peter Van Burgh Livingston, as President of the New York 
Congress, advanced and delivered a congratulatory address. "Confiding 
in you, sir," said the speaker, " and in the worthy generals under your 
command, we have the most flattering hopes of success in the glorious 
struggle for American liberty, and the fullest assurances that whenever 
this important contest shall be decided by that fondest wish of each 
American soul, an accommodation with our mother country, you will 
cheerfully resign the important deposit committed into your hands and 
resume the character of our worthiest citizen." 

Hardly had these honors been paid to Washington when, at eight 
o'clock of the same evening, Tryon landed, and was in turn greeted by 
the same militia, and in addition, by the Mayor and Common Council, 
who, by their transports of loyalty, seemed anxious to neutralize, as far 
as possible, the reception given a few hours previous to Washington. 
Meanwhile, the latter, having placed the city under the command of 
General Schuyler, departed for Boston, leaving the citizens in great 
doubt as to the future steps which would be taken by Tryon. 

Their suspense, however, was to be short. The Provincial Congress 
regarding the guns in the battery as a standing menace to the patriot 



144 

party, and wishing them for the defense of the Highlands, ordered their 
removal. The indomitable Lamb, at the head of his Liberty Boys, among 
whom was Alexander Hamilton, at once volunteered for this service, and 
in the face of the guns of the Asia, which opened her batteries upon the 
party, succeeded in carrying away to a place of safety the whole of the 
pieces of cannon, twenty-one in number. This event at once brought 
things to a crisis ; and the Governor, alarmed for his personal safety among 
an incensed populace, took refuge on board of the Asia. 

Meanwhile, the Assembly of New York, not wishing to join in the 
radical action of the Provincial Congress, and yet feeling keenly the course 
of the parent government, had prepared and sent to the Crown a memo- 
rial for a redress of their grievances — a fact which the Ministry soon 
learned, and not without mortification. " We claim," the address said in 
conclusion, " but a restoration of the rights which we enjoyed by general 
consent before the close of the last war ; we desire no more than a con- 
tinuation of the ancient government to which we are entitled by the prin- 
ciples of the British Constitution, and by which alone can be secured to 
us the rights of Englishmen." The address was presented to the House 
of Commons by Mr. Burke, but was never called up. Incensed at this 
insult to themselves, those faint hearts in the Assembly who had hereto- 
fore wavered, now boldly joined the patriots ; and when, on the 10th of 
July, 1776, the news was received in the city of the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence, the enthusiasm was well nigh universal — almost all hasten- 
ing to aid General Putnam (who had succeeded Lee in the command) 
in fortifying the city. The principal fortifications were as follows : A 
grand battery of twenty-three guns was erected directly south of the Bowl- 
ing Green ; McDougalFs Battery of four guns stood on a little eminence to 
the west of Trinity Church. On the East Eiver side were Coenties' Battery, 
Waterbury's Battery, Badlands Battery of eight guns near the Jewish 
burial-ground on Chatham street, and the Independent Battery on a slight 
elevation on the corner of the present Grand and Centre streets. " Breast- 
works were also erected at Peck, Beekman, Burling and Old Slips ; at 
the Coffee-House, the Exchange, and in Broad street." Ditches were 
cut across the island from the East to the North River, and at the 
same time strong fortifications were thrown up on Governor's Island, 
Paulus Hook (Jersey City), Brooklyn Heights, and Long Island. 

These fortifications were erected at the suggestion of the Commander- 
in-Chief, who, rightly anticipating, on the evacuation of Boston by 
General Howe, that his next point of attack would be New York, detached 
General Greene, with a portion of the army, to put Long Island and the 
harbor of New York in a posture of defense. Washington followed soon 
afterward himself, and established his headquarters in the city. Having 
been joined by his brother, Lord Howe, as commander of the fleet at 
Halifax, General, afterwerd Sir William Howe, arrived with his rein- 



145 

forcements off Sandy Hook, the latter on the 25th of June, 1776, and the 
former on the 12th of the following month. General Clinton arriving at 
about the same time from the unsuccessful attempt against Charleston 
with Admiral Hotham, the combined forces of the enemy now amounted 
to nearly twenty-four thousand men, including the Hessians. 

On the 22d of August, the British army was landed upon Long 
Island at Grave send. The American army, consisting of fifteen thou- 
sand men, under Sullivan, was encamped in the neighborhood of Brook- 
lyn. The battle of Long Island, which was severely, though ineffect- 
ually, contested by the American forces under Sullivan and Lord 
Stirling, was fought on the 27th of August. In this action, the loss of 
the enemy was reported at from three hundred to four hundred and 
fifty. The loss of the Americans was far greater. General Washington 
admitted it to be one thousand, but he is believed only to have referred 
to the loss of the regular troops. General Howe claimed one thousand 
and ninety-seven prisoners, among whom were Generals Sullivan, 
Stirling, and Woodhull. On the 30th, the Americans effected a masterly 
retreat across the East River to New York. The enemy made immediate 
dispositions for attacking the city ; and so prompt and skillful were his 
movements, that, in a council of general officers, an immediate evacuation 
was deemed the only means of saving the army. The British fleet was 
divided into two squadrons, one of which entered the East and the other 
the North River. Under cover of the former, Sir Henry Clinton crossed 
from Long Island and landed at Kipp's Bay with such celerity that the 
Americans fled in disorder. Indeed, the evacuation resembled rather a 
flight than a retreat — all the heavy artillery, military stores, baggage, and 
provisions, falling into the hands of the enemy. A large portion of the 
American forces, at that time, consisted of militia, the conduct of which 
was scandalous beyond endurance. They deserted, not only in small 
numbers, but in companies and squadrons, whenever they could ; and 
their conduct, in the face of the enemy, or rather when running from the 
faces of the enemy, was most cowardly. So disorderly was their demeanor* 
and so like poltroons did they behave when flying from Sir Henry 
Clinton, that even Washington himself lost his patience, and was excited 
to a degree of hot exasperation. In writing from Harlaem Heights to a 
friend, General Greene said that " two brigades of militia ran away from 
about fifty men, leaving the Commander-in-Chief on the ground, within 
eighty yards of the enemy, so vexed with the conduct of his troops that 
he sought death rather than life. His attempts to stop them were fruit- 
less. He drew his sword and threatened to run them through, and 
cocked and snapped his pistols.* But all his exertions were to no purpose.'' 

* Mr. Bancroft, it is true, discredits this statement ; but, it seems to me, with- 
out sufficient reason. 

10 



146 

In a letter upon the subject of this infamous conduct of the militia, to the 
President of Congress, the Commander-in-Chief declared that, " were he 
called to give his opinion upon oath, he should say that militia did more 
injury to the service than good." 

General Greene strongly urged the destruction of the city by fire — a 
measure afterward so effectively adopted by Count Rostopchin, Governor 
of the ancient 'capital of Muscovy, to arrest the career of Napoleon — that 
the enemy might be deprived of the advantage of establishing their 
winter-quarters therein. His reasons for this measure were sound, and 
ought, doubtless, to have been adopted. Washington, also, was 
believed to be of the same opinion, especially as two-thirds of the property 
which it was proposed to destroy, belonged to undisguised loyalists. But 
Congress would not allow the sacrifice ; and on the 15th of September, 
1776, the City of New York was in full possession of the British — General 
Washington having retired with the army to King's Bridge. , 

It would seem, however, as if the idea of firing the city — though 
given up by Washington and Greene — was still cherished by some of the 
residents of the city. Scarcely had the British fairly taken posession, 
when on the night of the "20th of September — only six days after they had 
marched in — a terrific fire broke out, which was not subdued until one 
thousand houses, or about one-fourth of the city, was reduced to ashes.* 
The fire was first discovered in a low dram-shop, tenanted by abandoned 
men arid women ; but in a few minutes afterward flames were seen to 
break forth from several other buildings, lying in different directions, at 
the same moment. For some time previous the weather had been dry, 
and at the moment a brisk southerly wind prevailing, and the buildings 
being of wood and covered with shingles, the flames soon caught the 
neighboring houses and spread with inconceivable rapidity. The fire 
swept up Broad and Beaver streets to Broadway and thence onward, con- 
suming all that portion of the town lying on the North River, until the 
flames were stopped by the grounds of King's (Columbia) College at Mortkile 
street, now Barclay. St. Pauls Church, at one time, was in great danger. 
Fortunately, however, the roof was flat, with a balustrade on the eaves. 
Taking advantage of this circumstance, a number of citizens went into the 
balustrade and extinguished the flakes of fire as they fell on the roof. 
Trinity Church, with the Lutheran Chapel, on the opposite corner of 
Rector street, was also destroyed. The Rev. Dr. Inglis was then rector 
of Trinity, and with this sacred edifice, his parsonage and the Charity 
School — two large buildings — were consumed, entailing a loss of church- 
property to the value of twenty-five thousand pounds. The organ of 
Trinity, alone, cost eight hundred and fifty pounds. 

* Hugh Gaine, in his Universal Register for 1787, states that before this fire, the 
city contained 'about four thousand two hundred houses, and thirty thousand 
inhabitants. 



147 

At the present clay it is difficult to say whether the fire was or was 
not the result of incendiarism on the part of disaffected Americans. Even 
reliable contemporaneous writers differ widely in their opinion on the 
subject, some affirming positively that the city was set on fire, and others 
again quite as positively affirming the contrary. For ourselves, we are 
inclined to believe that the fire was the result of a deliberate design ; nor, 
if the newspapers and private correspondence of the day can be believed, is 
there much room left for doubt. According to these authorities, one 
man was seized in the act of setting fire to the College, who acknowledged 
that he had been employed for the purpose. A New England captain, 
who was seized at the same time, with matches in his pocket, also 
acknowledged the same. One White, a carpenter, was observed to cut 
the leather-buckets which conveyed the water. " The next day, Satur- 
day,'' says Steadman, in his history of the American War, " a great many 
cart-loads of bundles of pine-sticks dipped in brimstone were found con- 
cealed in cellars of houses to which the incendiaries had not had time to 
set fire." " The rebels," says the Pev. Charles Inglis, in writing on 
the same subject, a few days after, to the ; Venerable Society for the 
Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts,' " carried off all the bells in 
the city, partly to convert them into cannon and partly to prevent notice 
being given speedily of the destruction they meditated against the city by 
fire, when it began. * Several rebels secreted themselves in the 

houses to execute the diabolical purpose of destroying the city." Not- 
withstanding, however, this seeming mass of testimony, it was found 
impossible to obtain legal proof sufficient to fasten the act upon any par- 
ticular individual — for all who had been caught a the time with matches, 
&c, had been killed on the spot by the enraged soldiery — and the result 
was, that several of the citizens, who had been arrested and imprisoned 
on the charge of being the incendiaries, were acquitted. 

The history of New York City during its occupation by the British 
is not one that Americans can recall with pleasure. True it is that this 
period has invested a few of the old buildings, yet standing, with interest ; 
but these very associations are of a saddening, melancholy nature, and 
only calculated to make Americans, even at the present day, blush at the 
remembrance of the fact that British officers — having their blood, and the 
same ancestry, and speaking the same tongue — could ever have been guilty 
of such horrid atrocities upon the persons of inoffensive captives. Of the 
numerous prison-pens in the city during the Revolution, only two yet stand 
— like charred and battered monuments of cruelty and tyranny — the North 
Dutch Church, on William street, and the Middle Dutch Church — the 
present Post-Office. In the former edifice, eight hundred prisoners were 
ncarcerated, without fuel or bedding, during two of the coldest winters 



148 

New York has ever known.* Their provisions were scanty, and of the 
poorest quality ; and, as a natural and probably anticipated consequence, 
many died from cold and starvation. " We never," says Oliver Woodruff, 
one of the prisoners, " drew as much provisions for three days' allowance 
as a man would eat at a common meal. I was there three months during 
that inclement season, and never saw any fire, except what was in the lamps 
of the city. There was not a pane of glass in the windows, and nothing to 
keep out the cold, except the iron grates." " The allowance," says Adolph 
Meyer, another prisoner, " was one loaf of bread, one quart of peas, half a 
pint of rice, and one and a half pounds of pork for six days. Many pris- 
oners died from want ; and others were reduced to such wretchedness as to 
attract the attention of common prostitutes, from whom they received 
considerable assistance. No care was taken of the sick,' and if any died 
they were thrown at the door of the prison, and lay there till the next 
day, when they were put on a cart and drawn out to the entrenchments, 
beyond the Jews' burial-ground, where they were interred by their fellow- 
prisoners, conducted thither for that purpose. The dead were thrown 
into a hole promiscuously, without the usual rites of sepulcher." But 
the state of things was even worse in the Middle Dutch Church — the 
present Post-Office — into which three thousand prisoners were crowded. 
" Here," says John Pintard, an eye-witness of these scenes, "the prisoners 
taken on Long Island and at Fort Washington — sick, wounded, and 
well — were all indiscriminately huddled together by hundreds and 
thousands, large numbers of whom died by disease ; and many were 
undoubtedly poisoned by their inhuman attendants for the sake of their 
watches and silver buckles." " The beds of the prisoners," says Dunlop, 
writing at the time, " were straw, intermixed with vermin. For many 
weeks, the dead-cart visited the prison every morning, into which from 
eight to twelve corpses were flung and piled up, then dumped into ditches 
in the outskirts of the city." The bones of the unfortunate victims of 
British cruelty, thus disposed of, were collected after the Eevolution, and 
buried with proper funeral rites, t 

But while the American prisoners were thus languishing in chains, 
the British officers and their wives were passing their time in a round of 
gayety and frivolity. The best view, perhaps, of the interior and social 
life of New York at this time — now become in reality a British city — is 

* During one of these winters — that of 1779-80 — the river between Cortlandt 
street and. Jersey was frozen over for forty days. Hundreds of people crossed daily 
on the ice, which was so thick that artillery was also conveyed across. 

f It is very true that, at times, the British themselves were often in want of 
food, and suffered from cold — and also that provisions were dear — still, that need no t 
have prevented them from giving the prisoners bed-clothes, and ministering to their 
necessities, and alleviating their condition as far as possible. 



149 

given in the letters of Mrs. General Riedesel.* This lady was the wife 
of the German general who commanded the Brunswick troops at the 
battle of Saratoga, where he was captured with Burgoyne. After her 
husband was exchanged she spent nearly two years in New York City — 
1779-80 — and her letters to her mother at this time are of great interest. 
From these latters, recently published in book-form, we make the follow- 
ing extracts : 

" Finally, late one evening, at the end of November, 1779, we 
reached New York, where my husband, who had gone ahead of 
us, had already arrived before me. A soldier who, at the gate- 
way, had been ordered to show us the way, conducted us to a very 
great and beautiful house, where we found everything prepared for 
our reception, and, better than all, a good supper. I was too much 
occupied in putting the children to bed, and too tired to inquire 
where I was, and supposed I was in a public-house. My husband, 
who had taken tea with General Cornwallis, came home late. The next 
morning a servant came in to ask me what I desired for dinner, and how 
many visitors I would probably have daily at table". I replied that as my 
husband did not dine at home, I should not need more than three dishes 
for six persons, namely : myself, my children, my women-servants, and the 
pastor, Mylius, the chaplain of my husband's regiment, whom we retained 
in our family, and who gave my children instruction in everything useful. 
He was a man of piety and of excellent character and good humor, and 
the children and we all loved him very much. I was then told that the 
order had been given to serve up on my table every day six large and 
four small dishes. Being still under the impression that I was in a tav- 
ern, I decidedly forbade this profusion, as I dreaded the bill. But I soon 
discovered that I was staying at the house of the Governor, General 
Tryon, who had forbidden them to tell me where I had been taken, through 
fear that I would not accept of his house. f This noble-minded man, 

* Letters and Journals relating to the War of the American Revolution, and the 
Capture of the German Troops at Saratoga, by Mrs. General Biedesel. Translated 
from the original German, by William L. Stone. Albany : J. Munsell. 1867. 

f The site of the present [1868] Bank of New York. 

" On the night of December 29th, 1773, the government house accidentally 
caught fire. So rapid was the progress of the flames that in a feAV moments after 
the alarm was given, a thick cloud of smoke and flame pervaded the whole building, 
and in less than two hours it was entirely consumed. From this dreadful conflagra- 
tion, nothing in the building, except a few articles of furniture taken from one of 
the parlors, was saved. The manner in which the fire originated was not discov- 
ered. The deep snow which covered the roofs of the other buildings in the city, 
contributed toward their protection, and the fire department of the city showed 
great activity in preventing the progress of the flames. Governor Tryon was a resi- 
dent of the government house in the fort at the time of its destruction, and was a 
heavy loser by the event. He afterward resided in a house on the corner of Wall 



150 

moreover, in order to avoid my thanks, crossed over to Long Island, 
where he had a provisional command. All my wishes were anticipated, 
and I was only in continual fear lest I should abuse so much kindness. 
I also received a call from General Patterson, the commandant of the 
city, who told me that they were still busy with the arrangement of the 
house, which we were to have as our own residence. Lord Cornwallis 
and General Clinton likewise came to see me. The former went off soon 
afterward upon an expedition. The latter offered me a country seat, of 
which he had the disposal, where I might have my children inoculated 
with the small-pox, an operation which it would be dangerous to have 
performed in the city, as that disease was raging there violently. I 
accepted his offer with much satisfaction, and we made all necessary 
preparations to go there. I gave our cook ten guineas to purchase all 
kinds of provisions. But when he very soon came back and asked for 
more money, I learned to my surprise that the money I had given him 
would scarcely last for two days, so dear was everything, even the com- 
monest thing. For exanrple, one pound of meat, reckoning according to 
our money, cost twelve groschen ;* one pound of butter, eighteen groschen ; 
one turkey, four rix-thalers ; a fowl, twenty groschen ; an egg, four 
groschen ; a quart of milk, six groschen ; a bushel of potatoes, two rix- 
thalers ; a half bushel of turnips, two florins ; ten oysters, eight groschen ; 
and six onions, one rix-thaler. But what was there left for me to do but 
to bear it with patience ?t 

One day a general was announced. I received him, and in the 
course of conversation he asked me, among other things, whether I was 
satisfied with my quarters ? My heart was too full of thankfulness for 



and "William streets, the same house having been subsequently, and until late years, 
occupied by the Bank of New York." — Valentine's Manual for 1864, page 643. 

* A groschen, as has been mentioned in a preceding note, is a fraction over 
three American cents. 

f All contemporaneous accounts fully corroborate the statement of our authoress. 
The rich in the city at first strove to keep up their six courses, their three-side 
services, and their profusion of fish, flesh, and fowl, but at length their resources 
failed ; many articles of food could no longer be obtained, and others were so dear 
as to exhaust the means of the wealthiest. A turkey was cheap at four dollars. 
Good meat could seldom be procured, and vegetables were extravagantly dear. 
Fifty dollars, says an eye-witness, would not feed a family for two days. Sir Henry 
Clinton entreated the farmers of the vicinity to bring in provisions, but in vain. 
Nor was he more successful in the foraging-parties he sent out. At sight of the 
enemy the alarm was given. The farmers of Westport and Southport, of Elizabeth- 
town and Railway, hastily buried their corn and oats beneath the snow, and old 
family furniture was carried off at midnight and hidden in the depths of the forest- 
The British foraging-parties accordingly found the barns empty, the cattle driven 
off, and the farm-houses deserted. In their rage the foragers set fire to the old 
homesteads and desolated whole districts, thus increasing the general misery without 
accomplishing the least good. 



151 

all the kindness that had been shown me, not to give full vent to my 
feelings in this regard ; and I at last expressed the wish to know person- 
ally my noble benefactor who had treated me with so much delicacy. He 
laughed, and just at that moment my husband stepped in and said to me, 
" That is the man who has shown us so much kindness !" I was so 
delighted at seeing him that I could not find words to express my feelings. 
Upon seeing my emotion the man was very much affected. I have inva- 
riably received from him the greatest proofs of his friendship. 

The country residence of General Clinton, where we went, was an 
hour's ride from the city. The grounds were beautiful, as was also the 
house, but the latter was arranged more for a summer residence, and as 
we had come there in the month of December, we suffered much from 
the cold. Notwithstanding this, however, the inoculation was perfectly 
successful. Accordingly, as it was now completed, and we had nothing 
more to fear from the infection, we got ourselves in readiness to return 
to the city, and sent our cook and the rest of our servants ahead to pre- 
pare everything for our arrival, which we expected would be upon the 
following day. During the night, however, we had such a terrible storm 
that we believed the whole house would be overturned. As it was, an 
entire balustrade actually fell down with a dreadful crash, and on getting 
up the next morning, we saw that on account of snow having fallen during 
the night four or five feet on the level, and eight feet in drifts, it would 
be utterly impossible to venture forth without sledges. I therefore went 
to work to hunt up all that I could find for our dinner. An old hen that 
had been forgotten served us for soup, and some potatoes which the 
gardener gave us, with some salt meat that still remained over from our 
stock of provisions, made up the entire meal for more than fourteen per- 
sons, which number we then were. 

On our return to New York I found, to my great amazement our new 
dwelling fitted up throughout with mahogany furniture. I was at first 
frightened at the expense which this would occasion. But Captain 
Willoe informed me that the entire cost would be defrayed by the Gov- 
ernor, and that the Commandant, General Patterson, considered himself 
fortunate in being able to justify the confidence which I had placed in 
the English nation. To render this remark intelligible, I must here state 
that I had assured him, when he consulted me upon the arrangement of 
our house, that I would leave everything entirely to the English, from 
whom, up to the present time, I had received sincere kindness and 
courtesy, and who certainly would still preserve toward us that full con- 
fidence which they had shown toward us. 

They overwhelmed us with distinguished marks of courtesy and 
friendship, for which we had, in a great measure, to thank General 
Phillips, who in New York was very much beloved, and was so strong a 
friend of ours, that he declared that whatever was done for us. would 



152 

flatter him more than as if done for himself. I had also the good fortune 
during our stay to make many friends on my own account. 

As the birthday of the Queen of England was approaching (which 
really comes in summer, but as the King's birthday also comes in that 
season, is celebrated in winter, to give more custom to the trades-people 
(as every one upon those days appears at court in gala-dress, they wished 
to celebrate the day with a great fete; and as it was the general wish — 
partly to please General Phillips, and partly to make me forget my own 
suffering — to confer on me a distinguished honor, they desired me to be 
queen of the ball. In order to bring this about they persuaded the wife 
of General Cornwallis' adjutant — who as an English lady of noble birth, ' 
would have had precedence over me — to remain at home on the ground 
that she was near her confinement. When at length the great day 
arrived, all the ladies assembled at Governor Tryon's, where they received 
me with all ceremony. The General introduced me to all the ladies, some 
of whom were envious ol the honor which was shown me. But I imme- 
diately declared that I received this distinction only on account of the day, as 
they had conferred on me thelionor of representing the Queen, and that 
in future I would give place to those ladies who were older than I. As 
there were quite a number present who were my elders, my explanation 
conciliated them. Their countenances, accordingly, quickly brightened 
up, and I was soon upon a pleasant footing with the whole company. 

At six o'clock in the afternoon I was obliged to seat myself in a 
carriage with Generals Tryon and Patterson to be driven to the ball, 
where we were received with kettle-drums and trumpets. 

At supper, I was obliged, as I represented the Queen, to sit under a 
canopy, and drink the first toast. I was certainly much touched at all 
the marks of friendship I received, although extremely tired ; still, in 
order to show my gratitude, I cheerfully stayed as long as possible, and 
remained until two o'clock in the morning. Not only on this occasion, 
but during the whole of my sojourn in this place, I was loaded with kind- 
ness ; and I passed the remainder of the winter very pleasantly, with the 
exception of suffering very much from the cold, as the commissary had 
not had a sufficient quantity of wood cut. To save expense, he had this 
work done by his negro slaves ; and the winter setting in earlier than 
usual, and being impossible, as the river was frozen half over, to bring 
in wood either by boats or sledges, many of the garrison suffered for fuel. 
We, indeed, received an order for it ; but how did that help the matter 
since there was no wood to be had ? We were, therefore, often obliged 
to borrow wood of General Tryon for Saturday and Sunday, which we 
would return on Monday if we received any. The cold was so intense, 
that I frequently made the children lie in bed in order to keep them 
warm. Wood could not often be purchased for money ; and if by chance 
a little was lor sale, it cost ten pounds by the cord. I have myself paid 



153 

one piaster (which is a crown with us) for a single stick. The poor were 
obliged to burn fat, in order to warm themselves and cook their meals. * 

One day I was at the house of the lady of General Cornwallis' aid- 
de-camp, who had been confined, and complained bitterly of this lack of 
wood ; whereupon, she promised to send me some coals, which I could 
return at my own convenience. I showed so much joy at this, that a 
certain Major, named Brown, who happened to be present, and was 
attached to the commissariat, and who had already expressed much 
sympathy at our want of wood, was so much affected that he immediately 
left the room. 

The next day, as I was looking out of the window, I saw quite a 
number of wagons full of chopped trees standing still in the street. Each 
wagon contained two cords of wood. I went into the room where the 
pastor, Mylius, sat with the children before the fire-place in which the 
last stick was burning, and said to him : ' Never before have I been 
envious ; but now the distress and pain which these poor children suffer, 
make me so ; for just now there has come to our very door four wagons 
filled with wood. How happy would I be if I only had some of it !' 
Scarcely had I thus spoken, when a servant brought me a message from 
Major Brown, stating that he had sent me these loads of wood with his 
compliments, and begging us to send to him whenever we should again 
be out of fuel. Imagine my joy, and my eagerness to thank our guardian 
angel. I had scarcely seen his face, as the lying-in chamber of milady 
had been so dark. Some days after I was at a ball where he also 
was expected to be present. He had been described to me as a man with 
a very prominent turned-up nose. For such a person, therefore, I looked 
attentively ; but I was obliged to look for a long time, because the excel- 
lent man kept continually out of the way, that I might have no oppor- 
tunity to thank him. At last, however, I found him, and thanked him 
right heartily. He then told me that up to that time he had known 
nothing of our necessity, but that when he heard my story he had not 
been able to go to sleep quietly the whole night, through fear that the 
dispositions which he had already made for our relief would not arrive 
sufficiently speedy. These ' dispositions ' consisted in giving the order to 
cut down some of the trees in the great avenue in front of the city ; t 

* " The wealthy," writes a contemporary, " shivered for cold in their splendid 
apartments. In vain did Sir Henry Clinton issue proclamations to the farmers of 
Long Island to send in their wood. In vain did he dispatch foraging-parties to cut 
down the forests on the large estates of the patriots William Floyd and "William 
Smith, the patroons of Long Island. The demand for fuel could not he supplied, 
and the Baroness Biedesel, the caressed of all the army, suffered severely in that 
inclement winter." 

f Probably, the present Wall street. All the principal highways of the city 
were adorned at this period with luxuriant shade-trees. A celebrated traveler, who 



154 

and when this proceeding was objected to on the ground that it would 
make considerable damage, he replied, that it was much better to spare 
a few trees than to have a family, who had served the King with so 
much zeal, suffer from want. He further told me that in future we 
must, under all circumstances, whenever anything was wanting that it 
belonged to the commissary to supply, apply directly to him. This 
acquaintance was of great advantage to us. My husband was supplied 
with many kinds of provisions ; with Indian meal, part of which we used 
for bread and part for cake, and also with salted meat, which latter 
article, however, was entirely useless to us, as we received more than we 
could consume ; and it often was so uneatable that I gave it away to get 
rid of it, especially since our servants were also supplied with the sarue 
kind of food. The Major, accordingly, advised us to pursue the same 
plan in this regard as the other generals, viz. : to exchange our meat 
for boxes of tallow and candles of spermaceti (which burn better and are 
more beautiful than those of wax), and also for butter, which they did 
gladly, as they were obliged to supply the soldiers with meat. By this 
means, we saved considerable. We were now no longer troubled for the 
want of wood, for they broke to pieces an old and worthless ship in order 
to furnish us with fuel, and from this time we received weekly two cords 
of fire -wood. 

Throughout the whole winter, Generals Phillips, Tryon, and Patter- 
son were our constant friends and guests, and every week we gave a gen- 
tleman's dinner party. This was all that we could afford to do, as every- 
thing was so terribly high in the city. At the end of the winter General 
Tryon sailed for England, but just before his departure, he sent to my 
house unbeknown to me, magnificent furniture, tapestry, carpets, and 
curtains, besides a set of silk hangings for an entire room. Never shall 
I forget the many marks of friendship which I have received from almost 
every one of this excellent nation, and it will always be to me a source of 
satisfaction to be able at any time to be of use to the English, as I have 
learned by experience how pleasant it is to receive kindness from 
foreigners. 

visited New York, just previous to the arrival of Governor Tryon, thus describes the 
various kinds then growing in the city : " In the chief streets there are trees planted, 
which in the summer give them a fine appearance, and during the excessive heat at 
that time, afford a cooling shade. I found it extremely pleasant to walk in the 
town, for it seemed quite like a garden. The trees which are planted for this pur- 
pose are chiefly of two kinds ; the water-beech is the most numerous, and gives an 
agreeable shade in summer by its large and numerous leaves. The locust-tree is 
likewise frecpient ; its fine leaves and the odoriferous scent which exhales from its 
flowers, make it very proper for being planted in the streets near the houses and in 
the gardens. There are likewise lime-trees and elms in these walks, but they are 
not, by far, so frequent as the others. One seldom meets with trees of the same sort 
adjoining each other, they being in general placed alternately." 



155 

About this time our friendly relations began with our excellent 
friend General Clinton, who was the general-in-chief of the English army 
in the southern provinces of America. As is the case with every English- 
man, it was at first very difficult for our acquaintance to ripen into inti- 
macy. His first call upon us was one of ceremony, as he came as general- 
in-chief, attended by his entire staff. As his general appearance and 
conversation were agreeable, I said to his friend, General Phillips, that I 
regretted that he had treated us with so much ceremony, and that a 
more friendly manner would have better accorded with our feelings. 
Afterward he invited us out to his country seat to spend the sum- 
mer, an invitation which was accepted. His country residence was 
magnificent, a most beautiful situation, orchard and meadows, and 
the Hudson River running directly in front of the house. Every 
thing was placed at our disposal, including fruits of the most deli- 
cious flavor ; indeed, of this latter article we had more than we 
could eat. Our servants feasted on peaches even to satiety, and our 
horses, which roamed through the orchards, eagerly ate the fruit from 
the trees, disdaining that upon the ground, which every evening we had 
gathered up and given to the pigs to fatten them. It seems almost 
incredible, but nevertheless it is true, that with nothing but this fruit we 
fattened six pigs, the flesh of which was capital, only the fat was some- 
what soft. Peach, apricot, and other fruit-trees are raised here without 
espaliers, and have trunks as thick as those of ordinary trees. 

Not far from us were the Hell Gates, which are dangerous breakers 
for those ships that pass through them up the river. We often saw ships 
in danger, but only one was wrecked and went to pieces during our stay 
at this place. 

General Clinton came often to visit us, but in hunter's dress, accom- 
panied by only one aid-de-camp. On one of these occasions he said to 
us : 'I feel confident that you look upon me more as a friend than a 
stranger, and as I feel the same toward you, you shall always be regarded 
by me as such.' The last time he came to see us, he had with him the 
unfortunate — as he afterward became — Major Andre, who, the day after- 
ward, set out upon the fatal expedition in which he was captured by the 
Americans and afterward hung as a spy. It was very sad that this 
pre-eminently excellent young man should have fallen a victim to his zeal 
and his kind heart, which led him to undertake such a precarious errand 
instead of leaving it to older and known officers, to whom properly the 
duty belonged, but whom on that very account (as they would be more 
exposed to danger) he wished to save. 

"We passed much of our time at this most agreeable place, but our 
contentment was broken in upon by a malignant fever that prevailed in 
New York, and of which in our family alone, twenty fell ill, eight danger- 
ously. Among these eight were my husband and my daughter Gustava. 



156 

One can imagine my grief and apprehension ; day and night I did nothing 
but divide my nursing between my husband and daughter. The former 
was so ill that we often thought he would not survive the day, and Gus- 
tava had such violent paroxysms of fever that she entreated me, when she 
was shivering with the ague, to lay myself upon her, at which times she 
violently shook me together with her bed, although she was only nine 
years old. It frequently happened that those sick of the fever died in 
these fits of shaking, and every day persons would tell me of fifty or sixty 
fresh burials, which certainly did not tend to raise my spirits. The heat 
which, the sick suffered was so intense that their pulse beat one hundred 
and thirty-five times in a minute. All our servants were sick, and of 
course I was obliged to do everything. I was then nursing my litlje 
America, and had neither opportunity nor desire to lie down, except while 
giving her the breast. At such times I laid down upon the bed and fell 
asleep. At night I was often busied in making for my patients a lemon- 
ade of salts of wormwood, mixed with lemon-juice, sugar and water. By 
which means, as all the sick in the house had them, I used up in the 
space of two weeks, two full boxes of lemons, each box containing five 
hundred. 

We remained the entire summer of 1780 upon this lovely estate. 
Two Miss Robinsons came to share our loneliness and enliven our little 
company. They remained with us a fortnight previous to our return to 
the city, when the news of the arrival of a ship from England bringing over 
the latest fashions, took them back again to the town. On our return to the 
city I scarcely recognized them in their odd and actually laughable garb, 
which a very pretty woman just over from England, had imposed upon 
them and the other New York ladies. This lady was with child and did 
not wish it to be known. Accordingly, she made them think that in 
England they wore bodices that were parted in the middle, whereby the 
points stuck upward, hoops as large around as those of a hogshead, and 
very short cloaks tied up with ribbons, all of which they believed implic- 
itly and copied after.* 

Upon our return to New York we were received in the most friendly 

* The taste for fashionable frivolity and display seems to have been the only 
thing unaffected by the privations of that gloomy winter. Eugene Lawrence, in 
speaking of New York City at this time, in a paper read before the New York His- 
torical Society, January 6th, 1857, says : " Meanwhile, in the midst of all this suffer- 
ing and want, the city streets were filled with the fashions and the luxuries of 
Europe. The ladies c rowded William street, and the merchants spread out the most 
costly wares. French silks captured in some unlucky vessels, sold readily at extrav- 
agant rates. Lutestrings and poplins, brocades, and the best broadcloth of England, 
were shown on the counters of William street and Wall, and it is a curious circum- 
stance, that through all the war, William Prince, of Flushing, continued his adver- 
tisement of fruit and flowers, of magnolias and apricots, and of the finest grafts, and 
the rarest seeds." 



157 

manner, and'our friends vied with each other in making the winter pass 
most pleasantly. My husband, General Phillips, and their aid-de-camps, 
were finally exchanged in the autumn of 1780, hut the rest of the troops 
captured at Saratoga remained prisoners. 

General Clinton, partly through friendship to my husband, and 
partly out of attachment to our present duke, wished to place General 
Bieclesel in active service where he could serve to advantage. He, there- 
fore, by virtue of the power which an English general has in his own 
army, appointed him Lieutenant-General and gave him the correspond- 
ing English allowance ; which, on account of the clearness of everything 
(by reason of which we had difficulty in making both ends meet), proved 
very acceptable to us. At the same time he gave him a command at Long 
Island, which island lies opposite New York, being separated from it by 
only a narrow channel called the East Eiver. I was not able during the 
winter to be with him, as the house in which he had his quarters, was 
not habitable for me, as it was possible to heat only a few rooms in it. 
My husband, accordingly, went back and forth, which he easily did all 
winter, as everything was quiet. The autumn before he was appointed 
to this post, he had a severe relapse of his old complaint, caused probably 
by a cold which he caught by going in sea-bathing while heated. He 
suddenly became perfectly stiff and could not speak, and had it not been 
for friend Colonel Wurmb, who fortunately was in his room, it might 
perhaps have been all over with him. The doctor immediately opened a 
vein and rubbed him strongly, and God once more spared him to me ; but 
his cramps, oppressions, headaches, and drowsiness increased. All the 
physicians gave it as their opinion that the climate thoroughly disagreed 
with him, and that he never would be any better as long as he remained 
in the southern provinces of North America. Still there was nothing else 
for us to do. My husband could not think of receiving permission to 
leave, and was, therefore, obliged to remain at his post. 

In the spring of 1781, 1 also settled down on Long Island, where we, 
although pretty lonesome, might have lived perfectly contented if we 
only could have been without solicitude ; but as the river was not frozen 
over, the Americans constantly attempted surprises in order to take pris- 
oners. Major Maybaum was drawn out of his bed, and we knew that 
they aimed to do the same thing with my husband. Our house was sit- 
uated close to the shore and was perfectly isolated, so that if they had 
overcome the watch they could easily have carried him away. Every one 
was therefore constantly on the watch. Throughout the entire night at 
the slightest noise, he would wake up and place himself in readiness for 
an attack, and thus he lost considerable sleep. I also became so accus- 
tomed to watching that daylight would often surprise me when I would 
lie down and catch a few hours sleep, for it was only when my husband 
believed that I was wide awake and on guard, that he would allow him- 



158 

self to sleep, so terrible was to him the thought that he might again be 
taken prisoner. We had from our house a magnificent prospect. Every 
evening I saw from my window the City of New York, entirely lighted up, 
and as the city is built close to the shore, I saw its reflection in the water. 
We heard also the beating of the drums, and, if everything was particu- 
larly still, even the calls of the sentinels. We had our own boat, and 
could cross over in it to New York in a quarter of an hour." 

At length, a definite treaty of peace was entered into by the United 
States and Great Britain, on the 3d of September, 1783 ; and on the 25th 
of November, of the same year — just seven years, two months, and ten 
days from the time the British had occupied New York in triumph — 
Washington entered the city at noon — at the same time that the British 
troops, having, as they supposed, prevented the immediate hoisting of 
American colors, by knocking off the cleats and greasing the flag-staff on 
Fort George — evacuated the city and sailed slowly down the bay. But 
this device availed them little. New cleats were at once nailed on to the 
pole ; and before the British disappeared in the offing they heard the 
thunders of American cannon, proclaiming — as the Stars and Stripes 
were run up — the downfall of British supremacy in America ! 

A history of this period would be incomplete without an allusion to 
the newspapers published in the City of New York before and during 
the American Revolution. 

The first newspaper published in New York City was the New York 
Gazette, established by William Bradford in October, 1725, just twenty- 
one years subsequent to the establishment at Boston of the first newspaper 
published in America — the Newsletter. It was printed on a half : sheet of 
foolscap, with a large and almost worn-out type. There is a large volume 
of these papers in the New York Society Library, in good preservation. 
The advertisements do not average more than three or four a week, and 
are mostly of runaway negroes. The ship-news was diminutive enough — 
now and then a ship, and some half-dozen sloops arriving and leaving in 
the course of the week. Such was the daily paper published in this, the 
commercial metropolis of America, one hundred and forty-one years ago ! 

Eight years after the establishment of Bradford's Gazette, the New 
York Weekly Journal was commenced by John Peter Zenger, and was 
distinguished for the raciness of its advertisements.* 

The third paper published in New York was called the Evening Post. 
It was commenced by Henry De Eorest in 1746. It was remarkable 



* One of these advertisements was as follows : 

Whereas, the wife of Peter Smith has left his bed and board, the pnblic are 
cautioned against trusting her, as he will pay no debts of her contracting. 

N. B. — The best of garden-seeds sold by the same Peter Smith, at the sign of 
the G-olden Hammer. 



159 

chiefly for stupidity, looseness of grammar, and worse orthography, and 
died before it was able to walk alone. 

In 1752 the New York Mercury was commenced, and in 1763 the title 
was changed to the New York Gazette and Weekly Jlercury. This paper was 
established by Hugh Gaine, at the sign of the Bible and Crown, Hanover 
Square. It was conducted with taste and ability, and became the best 
newspaper in the colonies. In 1763 Gaine was arraigned by the Assembly 
for publishing a part of the proceedings without permission, and withal 
incorrectly. He was a gentleman of a kind spirit, and never had the 
power to withhold an apology when it was asked ; he accordingly apolo- 
gized, was reprimanded, and discharged. 

As the storm of war drew on in 1775, the Mercury contained a series 
of patriotic papers, under the signature of the " Watch-Tower." But as 
the British drew near to New York, the patriotism of Gaine began to 
cool ; and during the whole course of the Eevolutionary War his Mercury 
afforded very accurate indications of the state of the contest. (When 
with the Whigs, Hugh Gaine was a Whig ; when with the Royalists, he 
was loyal.) When the contest was doubtful, equally doubtful were the 
politics of Hugh Gaine. In short, he was the most perfect pattern of the 
genuine non-committal. On the arrival of the British army he removed to 
Newark, but soon returned to the city, and published a paper devoted to 
the cause of the Crown. His course was a fruitful theme for the wags 
of the day ; and at the peace, a poetical petition from Gaine to the Senate 
of the State, setting forth his life and conduct, was got up with a good 
deal of humor. His paper closed with the war. 

Another paper, called the New York Gazette, was commenced by 
Wayman, the former associate of Parker. In 1766 Wayman was arrested 
and imprisoned for a contempt of the Assembly, upon no other charge 
than that of two typographical errors in printing the speech of Sir Henry 
Moore, the Governor of the Colony. One of these errors consisted in 
printing the word never for ever, by reason of Avhich the meaning of the 
sentence was reversed. The Assembly, however, was more rigid in this 
case, from the suspicion entertained that this error was intentional ; but 
such was clearly not the case. 

A paper called the New York Chronicle was published during the years 
1761-62, and then died. The New York Pacqiiet was next published in 
1763, but how long it lived is not known. In 1766, Holt established the 
New York Journal, or General Advertiser, which in the course of the year 
was united with Parkers Gazette, the Journal being printed as a separate 
paper. John Holt edited the first Whig paper published in this city ; 
nor, as in the case of Hugh Gaine, did his patriotism come and go, as 
danger approached or receded from the city. In 1774, Holt discarded 
the King's arms from the title of his paper, substituting in place of it a 
serpent, cut in pieces, with the expressive motto, "Unite or die.'''' In 



160 

January, 1775, the snake was united and coiled with the tail in his 
mouth, forming a double ring. On the body of the snake, beginning at 
the head, were the following lines : 

" United now, alive and free — - 
Firm on this basis Liberty shall stand, 
And, thus supported, ever bless our land, 
Till Time becomes Eternity." 

The designs both of 1774 and 1775 were excellent — the first by a 
visible illustration, showing the disjointed state of the colonies ; and the 
second presenting an emblem of their strength when united. Holt main- 
tained his integrity to the last. When the British took possession pf 
New York he removed to Esopus, now Kingston, and revived his paper. 
On the burning of that village, by the enemy, in 1777, he removed to 
Poughkeepsie, and published the Journal there until the peace of 1783, 
when he returned to New York and resumed his paper under the title of 
the Independent Gazette, or the New York Journal retired. Holt was an 
unflinching patriot, but did not long survive the achievement of his 
country's freedom. He fell a victim to the yellow fever in 1798. The 
paper was continued by his widow for a little while, but ultimately fell 
into the hands of that celebrated political gladiator, James Cheetham. 

The celebrated James Eivington began his paper in 1733, under the 
formidable title of Rivingtorfs New York Gazette ; or, the Connecticut, New 
Jersey, Hudson River, and Quebec Weekly Advertiser. The imprint read as 
follows : " Printed at his ever open and uninfluenced press, fronting Han- 
over Square." It is well known that Eivington was the royal printer 
during the whole of the Eevolutionary War ; and it is amusing to trace 
the degrees by which his toryism manifested itself as the storm gathered 
over the country. The title of the paper originally contained the cut of 
a large ship under full sail. In 1771 the ship sailed out of sight, and 
the King's arms appeared in its place — and in 1775 the words ever open ami 
uninfluenced were withdrawn from the imprint. These symptoms were dis- 
liked by the patriots of the country ; and in November, 1775, a party of 
armed men from Connecticut entered the city on horseback, beset his 
habitation, broke into his printing office, destroyed his presses, and threw 
his types into pi They then carried them away, melted, and cast them 
into bullets. Eivington's paper was now effectually stopped — omitted, 
like the case of the Oneida editor, for want of room, until the British army 
took possession of the City. Eivington himself, meantime, had been to 
England, where he procured a new printing apparatus, and returning, 
established the New York Royal Gazette, published by James Eivington, 
printer to the King's most excellent Majesty. During the remaining five 
years of the war Eivington's paper was the most distinguished for its 
lies and its disloyalty, of any journal in the colonies. It was published 



161 

twice a week ; and four other newspapers were published in this city at 
the same time, under the sanction of the British officers — one arranged 
for each day, so that, in fact, they had the advantages of a daily 
paper. It has been said and believed that Eivington, after all, was 
a secret traitor to the Crown, and, in fact, the secret spy for General 
Washington. Be this, however, as it may, as the war drew to a close, 
and the prospects of the King's arms began to darken, Rivington's loyalty 
began to cool down; and by 1787 the King's arms had disappeared; the 
ship again sailed into sight ; and the title of the paper, no more the Royal 
Gazette, was simply Rivington 's New York Gazette and Universal Advertiser. 
But although he labored to play the republican, he was distrusted by the 
people, and his paper was relinquished in the course of that year. 

From this brief sketch of the history of newspapers, from their 
first introduction into the city, down to the period of the Revolution, an 
idea may be formed of the germ of the newspaper press, which is now one 
of the chief glories of our country. The public press of no other coun- 
try equals that of New York City and the United States, either on the 
score of its moral or its intellectual power, or for the exertion of that 
manly independence of thought and action, which ought ever to charac- 
terize the press of a free people. 

What a prophet would the great wizard novelist of Scotland have 
been, had the prediction which he put into the mouth of Galeotti Marti- 
valle, the astrologer of Louis the Eleventh, in the the romance of Quentin 
Durward, been written at the period of its date ! Louis, who had justly 
been held as the Tiberius of France, is represented as paying a visit to 
the mystic workshop of the astrologer, whom his Majesty discovered to be 
engaged in the then newly-invented art of multiplying manuscripts by the 
intervention of machinery — in other words, the apparatus of printing. 

" Can things of such mechanical and terrestial import," inquired the 
King, " interest the thoughts of one before whom Heaven has unrolled 
her own celestial volumes V " 

" My brother," replied the astrologer, " believe me that in considering 
the consequences of this invention, I read with a certain augury, as by 
any combination of the heavenly bodies, the most awful and portentous 
changes. When I reflect with what slow and limited supplies the stream 
of science hath hitherto descended to us ; how difficult to be obtained by 
those most ardent in its search ; how certain to be neglected by all who 
love their ease ; how liable to be diverted or altogether dried up by the 
invasions of barbarism, — can I look forward without wonder and astonish- 
ment to the lot of a succeeding generation, on whom knowledge will 
descend like the first and second rain — uninterrupted, unabated, unabounded ; 
fertilizing some grounds and overflowing others ; changing the whole form 
of social life ; establishing and overthrowing religions ; erecting and 
destroying kingdoms — " 
11 



162 



« Hold ! Hold, Galeotti!" cried the King; " shall these changes ome 

in onr time ? " 

" No, my royal brother," replied Martivalle ; " this invention may be 
likened to a young tree which is now newly planted, but shall, in suc- 
ceeding generations, bear fruit as fatal, yet as precious, as that of the 
Garden of Eden— the knowledge, namely, of good and of evil." 



THIRD PERIOD. 

1783 — 1868. 
From the Evacuation of New York City by the British to the present day. 



" The city is ruined by the war, but its future greatness is unques- 
tionable." So wrote a citizen of New York, at the close of the Revolu- 
tionary War, to a friend ; and never was there a truer prophecy uttered. 
The trade of the city was indeed " ruined ;" her treasury was empty ; and 
her people were yet divided by domestic feuds. Still, this state of things 
could not last long. The position of New York among the Colonies 
had already become too important to be ignored for any length of time ; 
and the same causes which, at an early period, made New York the 
center of the Colonial interest, were to continue in operation, until she 
should become that, which she now is — the metropolis of America. 
The Colonial Congress of 1765, the Provincial Congress of 1776, the 
selection of herself as the seat of the General Government in 1788, and 
the inauguration of Washington in 1789, were "all hints of the empire 
that was to be." 

On the 13th of September, 1788, the adoption of the Federal Con- 
stitution was publicly announced ; and New York was chosen, as the 
seat of the General Government. This action of the Convention was 
peculiarly gratifying to the citizens of New York, who at once took steps 
to celebrate the occasion with fitting ceremonies.* 



* The account given in the text of the PROCESSION in honor of the adoption of 
the Federal Constitution, as well as the narrative of the Inauguration Ball,, is taken 
from the writings of the late Col. Wm. L. Stone, for thirty years the editor of the 
New York Commercial Advertiser. It is believed to comprise the only faithful 
historical record, political, festive, and fashionable, of the adoption of the Federal 
Constitution, the organization of the Government, the pageantry attending it, and 
the demonstrations which followed that important epoch in our national history. 
The particulars were collected by Col. Stone, with much care and labor, from such 
printed accounts as could be found in the scattered remnants of the little dingy 
newspapers of that day, and, also, such facts as were yet dimly floating in the 
recollections of those few who were then surviving, and had been actors in the. 
scenes described. 



164 

It is "well that the festivities attendant upon snch a momentous 
occasion should be embalmed for American generations yet unborn. The 
adoption of the Federal Constitution — the instrument which was to bind 
the almost disjointed members of the Republic together, as one people — 
was the most important event that the citizens of New York had ever 
been called upon to commemorate. The period intervening between the 
formation of the Constitution by the Convention, and its adoption by the 
number of States requisite to give it validity, was one of deep anxiety to 
the patriots of that day, not unmingled with fears as to the final result. 
A violent opposition sprang up in various parts of the Confederation, 
which was so successfully fomented by demagogues, and by those who 
feared they might lose weight in the national scale, should theeiew 
Federal edifice be erected, that the friends of the Constitution seeing 
nothing better than civil tumult and anarchy in the prospective, should 
that instrument be rejected, entertained the most lively apprehensions 
upon the subject. There were, likewise, among the opponents of the 
proposed Constitution, some good men, and real patriots, who honestly 
believed that, in the event of its adoption, too much power would pass 
from the States to the Federal Congress, and the Executive. The ablest 
tongues and pens in the Union were brought into action ; and it was 
that contest which combined the united wisdom of Hamilton, Jay, and 
Madison, in the Federalist — the ablest exposition of the Constitution that 
ever has been. or. perhaps, ever will be written. 

The action, however, of the respective States was slow. The pro- 
ceedings of their conventions were watched with absorbing interest ; and 
when it was found that the voice of New York would turn the scale — 
the Convention being in session in Poughkeepsie — all eyes were 
eagerly turned toward that quarter. The chief reason of Xew York's 
reluctance to come into the Constitutional Union was the fear — in view 
of the rising destiny of their city and State — of making over too much of 
their local power to the central government ; especially their great share 
of revenue from imports, and their commanding position between Xew 
England and the South and "West.* The contest, however, was not long 
in doubt. Hamilton redoubled his wonderful efforts, and Livingston 
put the whole energies of his capacious mind in requisition, and the 
Federalists triumphed. The news was received in Xew York City with 
unbounded delight ; the clubs celebrated the event with dinners and 
great festivity, and the citizens gave themselves up to the most unequivocal 
evidences of gratification. But private manifestations of the public feel- 
ing was held not to be worth}* of the occasion, and no time was lost in 
concerting the necessary measures for a public commemoration of the 
event, upon the most extensive and splendid scale that the public means 

* Dr. Osgood's Xew York in the Nineteenth Century. 



165 

would allow. Nor has the pageantry of any American celebration since 
that clay — not even excepting the Atlantic Cable Celebration of 1859 — 
excelled it in the ardor of its enthusiasm, or in the splendor of its effect. 
In describing the procession on this occasion, Colonel Stone says : 

" The procession was organized ' in the fields,' above the city ; thence 
it moved down Broadway to Great Dock street ; thence through Hanover 
Square and Queen — now Pearl street — up to Chatham ; through Chatham 
to Division, and thence across, through Bullock street, to the grounds 
surrounding the country seat of Nicholas Bayard, near the present junc- 
tion of Broadway and Grand street. 

A volume would scarce suffice to detail the particulars necessary to 
a full description of the flags and emblems, and patriotic decorations, 
which graced the many divisions and subdivisions of this brilliant pageant 
— altogether exceeding anything of a kindred character previously ex- 
hibited in the New World. After a brilliant military escort came Captain 
Moore, in the character and ancient costume of Christopher Columbus, 
preceded and followed by a band of foresters, with axes, suitably appar- 
eled. The next division consisted of a large number of farmers, among 
whom were Nicholas Cruger, driving a six-ox team, and the present 
venerable John Watts holding a plough. All the implements of husbandry 
and gardening were borne in the procession, and the Baron Poelnitz 
attended a threshing-machine. Their horses were handsomely caparisoned, 
•and led by boys in white uniforms. The tailors made a very brilliant 
display of numbers, uniforms, and decorations, of various descriptions. 
In the procession of the bakers were boys in beautiful dresses, represent- 
ing the several States, with roses in their hands. There were likewise 
an equal number of journeymen in appropriate uniforms, with the imple- 
ments of the calling, and a loaf of bread was borne in the procession ten 
feet long and three wide, on which were inscribed the names of the several 
States. The display of the brewers was happily conceived, and appro- 
priate. In addition to their banners fluttering gayly in the air, they 
paraded cars with hogsheads and tuns, decorated with festoons of hop- 
vines, intertwined with handfuls of barley. Seated on the top of a tun 
was a living Bacchus — a beautiful boy of eight years old — dressed in 
flesh-colored silk, fitted snugly to the limbs, and thus disclosing all the 
fine symmetrical proportions of his body. In his hand he held a silver 
goblet, with which he quaffed the nut-brown, and on his head was a 
garland of hops and barley-ears. The coopers appeared in great numbers. 
Their emblem of the States was thirteen boys, each thirteen years of age, 
dressed in white, with green ribands at their ankles, a keg under their 
left arms, and a bough of white-oak in their right hands. Upon an 
immensely large car, drawn by horses appropriately adorned, the coopers 
were at work. They had a broken cask, representing the old confederacy, 
the staves of which all their skill could not keep together. In despair at 



166 

the repeated nullification which their work experienced, they all at once 
betook themselves to the construction of an entirely new piece of work. 
Their success was complete, and a fine, tight, iron-bound keg arose from 
their hand, bearing the name of the New Constitution. The procession 
of butchers was long, and their appearance highly respectable. Upon 
the car in their procession was a roasted ox, of a thousand pounds, which 
was given as a sweet mor&el to the hungry multitude at the close of the 
clay. The car of the sons of St. Criop±n was drawn by four milk-white 
steeds, beautifully caparisoned. The tanners, curriers, and peruke- 
makers followed next in order, each with various banners and significant 
emblems. The furriers, from the novelty of their display, attracted great 
attention. It was truly picturesque. Their marshal was followed by an 
Indian, in his native costume and armor, as though coming wild from 
the wilderness, laden with raw furs lor the market. A procession of 
journeymen furriers followed, each bearing some dressed or manufactured 
article. These were succeeded by a horse, bearing two packs of fill's, and 
a huge bear sitting upon each. The horse was led by an Indian, in a 
beaver blanket, and black plumes waving upon his head. In the rear 
came one of their principal men, dressed in a superb scarlet blanket, 
wearing an elegant cap and plumes, and smoking a tomahawk pipe. 
After these, in order, marched the stone-masons, bricklayers, painters, 
and glaziers, cabinet and chair-makers, musical-instrument makers, and 
the upholsterers. The decorations of the societies vied with each other 
in taste and variety, but that of the upholsterers excelled. The federal 
chair of state was borne upon a car superbly carpeted, and above which 
was a rich canopy, nineteen feet high, overlaid with deep blue satin, hung 
with festoons and fringes, and glittering in the sun as with ' barbaric 
pearl and gold.' It was sufficiently gorgeous to have filled the eye of a 
Persian emperor, in the height of oriental splendor and magnificence. 
Twelve subdivisions of various trades succeeded in the prescribed order, 
after which came the most imposing part of the pageant. It was the 
federal ship Hamilton, a perfectly constructed frigate of thirty-two guns, 
twenty-seven feet keel, and ten feet beam, with galleries and everything 
complete and in proportion, both hull and rigging. She was manned by 
thirty seamen and marines, with officers, all in uniform, and commanded 
by that distinguished Revolutionary veteran. Commodore Nicholson. The 
ship was drawn by ten horses ; and in the progress of the procession went 
through every nautical preparation and movement, for storms, calms, and 
squalls, and for the sudden shifting of winds. In passing Liberty street, 
she made signal for a pilot, and a boat came off and put one on board. 
On arriving before Constable's house, Mrs. Edgar came to the window, 
and presented the ship with a suit of rich silk colors ; the yards were 
instantly manned, and the sailors gave three hearty cheers. When 
passing Old Slip, a Spanish government ship gave her a salute of 



1G7 

thirteen guns, which was returned by the Hamilton with as much prompt- 
ness as though she had actually been a ship of war upon the wide ocean. 
Next after the ship came the pilots, and the Marine Society. To these 
succeeded the printers, bookbinders, and stationers, led by those veterans 
of the type and quill, Hugh Gaine and Samuel Landon. They had a car, 
upon which the printers were at work ; the press was plied briskly, and 
impressions of a patriotic ode distributed ab they were taken among the 
multitude. Their banners were » v>rthy of their proud vocation. To these 
succeeded twenty-one subdivisions, of as many different trades, each 
moving under its own banners ; after which followed the learned profes- 
sions and the literary societies. The lawyers were preceded by John Law- 
rence, Esq., supported by John Cozine and Robert Troup. The Philolog- 
ical Society, headed by Josiah Ogden Hoffman, Esq., the president, was 
the next. One of the founders of this Society was Noah Webster, LL.D. 
tho great American lexicographer, who was in the procession. The 
standard was borne by William Dunlap, Esq. These three gentlemen 
yet survive. The officers and members of the university came next, and 
their successors were the Chamber of Commerce and merchants, headed 
by John Broome, president. William Maxwell, vice-president of the 
Bank, followed in a chariot, and William Laight, the secretary, was 
mounted upon a noble steed. Physicians, strangers, and gentlemen who 
were members of Congress, then in session in New York, closed the civic 
procession ; and the whole was brought up by a detachment of artillery. 

The procession contained nearly five thousand people ; and the spec- 
tacle was more solemn and imposing, and more truly splendid, than had 
ever before been presented to the eye of man on the American Continent. 
It was, indeed, a pageant of indescribable interest, and to most, of double 
attraction ; the occasion being one in which the deepest sympathies were 
enlisted, and it being also the first display of pomp and circumstance 
which they had ever witnessed. The whole population of the city had 
given themselves up to the enjoyment of the occasion, and gladness, in all 
its fullness, was depicted in every countenance, while a noble enthusiasm 
swelled every bosom. The bond of union was complete, and every man 
felt as though his country had been rescued, in the last hour, from the 
most imminent peril. 

When the procession reached the country seat of Nicholas Bayard, a 
noble banquet was found already spread for the whole assemblage beneath 
a grand pavilion temple, covering a surface of eight by six hundred feet, 
with plates for six thousand people. This splendid rural structure had 
been erected in the short space of four days, and the citizens were 
indebted for it to the taste and enterprise of Major L'Enfant, by whom 
it was designed, and under whose direction the work was executed. 
The two principal sides of the building consisted of three large 
pavilions, connected by a colonnade of about one hundred and fifty feet 



168 

front, and forming two sides of an obtuse angle; the middle pavilion, 
rising majestically above the whole, terminated with a dome, on the top 
of which was Fame and her trumpet, proclaiming a new era, and holding 
in her left hand the Standard of the United States and a roll of parch- 
ment, on which was inscribed, in large characters, the three remarkable 
epochs of the War of the Revolution : the Declaration of Independence, 
the Alliance with France, and the Peace of 1783. At her side was the 
American eagle, with extended wings, resting on a crown of laurel gracing 
the top of the pedestal. Over six of the principal pillars of this colonnade 
escutcheons were placed, inscribed with the ciphers of the several powers 
in alliance with the United States, viz. : France, Spain, Sweden, Prussia, 
Holland, Morocco ; and over these were displayed the colors of tkese 
respective nations, which added greatly to the brilliancy of the entablature, 
already decorated with festoons and branches of laurels. The extremities 
of this angle were joined by a table forming part of a circle, and 
from this ten more colonnades were extended, each four hundred and 
forty feet in length, radiating like the rays of a circle ; the whole having 
one common center, which was also the center of the middle pavilion, 
where sat the President of Congress. At the extremity of each colonnade 
was a pavilion, nearly similar to the three before mentioned, having their 
outsides terminated in a pediment crowned with escutcheons, on which 
were inscribed the names of the States now united. The whole of the 
colonnades were adorned with curtains elegantly folded, and with wreaths 
and festoons of laurels dispersed with beautiful and tasteful effect. The 
various bands of music which had enlivened the march of the procession 
were concentrated in the area within the angle first described, during the 
banquet, but so disposed as not to intercept the prospect from the seat of 
the President, through the whole length of the ten colonnades. The 
repast com hided, the procession was reorganized, and marched again 
into the city, and were dismissed at the Bowling Green, where the Federal 
ship fired a closing salute. 

Thus passed the '23d of July, 1788, in the City of New York — a day 
which deserves to be remembered by the patriot, the politician, and the 
philosopher, as that on which the people of the first city in the western 
world gave simultaneously the strongest and most enthusiastic demon- 
stration of their attachment to the great principles of " our Federal 
Union," as those principles were understood by the distinguished 
architects who formed the civil structure. On that occasion all narrow 
and bigoted distinctions were lost, and absorbed in that noblest of 
passions, the love of country, and the determination to secure and 
preserve the blessings of civil and religious liberty. Esto peppettta ! 

The winter festivities of 1788-89, however, were succeeded by 
matters of a public nature, which quickened the pulse of the politician, 
and excited a lively degree of attention, not only in the City of New 



169 

York, but throughout the borders of the young republic. The elections 
under the new Constitution had been held ;— Washington — the man of 
all others ' first in the hearts of his countrymen' — had been spontaneously 
designated by the people as their first Chief Magistrate under 
the new system ; and the constituted authorities elect were about to 
assemble in New York, to give action to the new political machinery. 
Congress, consisting for the first time of two branches — a Senate and 
House of Representatives — was to meet on the 4th day of March, 1789, 
and the thoughts of all were directed with deep solicitude to the period 
at which their labors were to be commenced. 

The day, ' big with the fate of Rome,' at length arrived ; but it 
brought not a quorum of either House ; for although the men of those 
days cannot be safely charged with a deficiency of patriotism, yet they 
had no sinister or ambitious purposes to accomplish, and therefore did 
not assemble in organized bodies of partisans at the first tap of the 
political drum. Adjourning over from day to day, until nearly the " ides 
of March" had arrived, without any accession being made to their 
numbers; on the 11th of that month, the Senators present jointly 
addressed a circular letter to the absentees, urging their prompt atten- 
tion to assist in putting the government into operation. The request was 
repeated by letter on the 18th. 

The House of Representatives was similarly circumstanced. Only 
thirteen members appeared on the day appointed, and these were from 
the five States of Massachusetts, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Virginia, 
and South Carolina — a commonwealth, which, though always proud and 
high-spirited, was then as anxious to come into the Union, as she seems 
since to have been to break out of it. The members gathered in by 
degrees, though slowly, and the House, like the Senate, adjourned over 
daily, until the 1st of April, when a quorum appeared, and Frederick 
Augustus Muhlenburgh, of Pennsylvania, was elected Speaker. Among 
the most distinguished patriots then present were Roger Sherman, Fisher 
Ames, Richard Bland Lee, James Madison, Elias Boudinot, and Thomas 
Tudor Tucker. 

The members of the Senate came in still more tardily ; but on the 6th 
of April, the arrival of Richard Henry Lee. of Virginia, enabled them to 
form a quorum, and commence their labors. John Langdon was elected 
President of the Senate, pro tern., and Samuel A. Otis, Secretary. Both 
Houses thus being organized, they proceeded to business — their first act 
being to canvass the votes returned for President and Vice-President, as 
prescribed in the new Constitution. At the time the election by the people 
was held, but ten States had placed themselves within the pale of the new 
Constitution. The whole number of votes cast was sixty-nine ; and so 
entirely did the Father of his Country enjoy the affection of his children, 
that without the aid of caucuses, or nominating conventions, every vote 



170 

was given for Geoege Washington. ' If we look over the catalogue of 
the first magistrates of nations, whether they have been denominated 
presidents or consuls, kings or princes, where shall we find one whose 
commanding talents and virtues, whose over-ruling good fortune, have so 
completely united all hearts and voices in his favor ? Who enjoyed the 
esteem and admiration of foreign nations and his fellow-citizens with 
equal unanimity ? Qualities so uncommon are no common blessing to the 
country that possesses them. But it was by these great qualities, and 
their benign effects, that Providence had marked out the first head of this 
great nation, with a hand so distinctly visible, as to have been seen by all 
men and mistaken by none.'* By the Constitution, while it bore the 
unadulterated impress of the wisdom of its framers, and before it had been 
impaired by amendment, the candidate receiving the second highest num- 
ber of votes was to be declared the Vice-President. The lot fell upon one 
who, during the whole combat of the Revolution, had been in the halls of 
legislation what his illustrious compeer had been in the field — first in wis- 
dom and foremost in action. f 

The gratifying result having been thus ascertained agreeably to the 
constitutional forms, Charles Thomson, the Secretary of the old Congress, 
was dispatched to Mount Vernon, as a commissioner to notify the chief- 
tain of his election. Meantime a discussion arose in both houses, resulting 
in an irreconcilable difference between them, of a character at once deli- 
cate and interesting. It called forth great talent, and first awakened those 
feelings of democratic jealousy and distrust of titles and power, of which 
we have seen so much since. Not that our modern republicans are 
opposed per se, to titles of a subordinate character, since for this species 
of distinction no people on earth appear so fond, or in fact enjoy so 
much, or adhere to it with greater tenacity. Many of the most respect- 
able citizens were constant listeners to the debates of which we have just 
been speaking ; for they were not only interested in the principle involved, 
but loved to study the characters of those noble spirits who were now 
assembled to consummate the revolution which their Avisdom and valor 
had achieved, by reducing the discordant members of the republic to 
order, and adjusting the details of a government, under the firm but 
harmonious action of which, complicated as it was, it was hoped the 
principles of civil and religious freedom would for ages find shelter and 
protection. The question at issue was upon the adoption of some respect- 
ful title by which the President of the United States should be addressed 
in their official intercourse with him. The first proposition in the Senate 



* Inaugural Address of the first Vice-President — the elder Adams. 

f The votes stood as follows — -George Washington, 69 ; John Adams, 34 ; John 
Jay, 9 ; Robert H. Harrison, 6 ; John Rutledge, ; John Hancock, 4 ; George Clinton, 
3 ; Samuel Huntington, 2 ; John Milton, 2 ; and one each for James Armstrong, 
Edward Telfair, and Benjamin Lincoln. 



171 

was, that the official address should be ' His Excellency.' But this was 
not considered as sufficiently elevated. It was at length determined by 
that body, that the address should be — ' His Highness the President 
of the United States, and the Protector of their Liberties.' But the 
House of Representatives obstinately refused to sanction any title what- 
ever, and declared that the constitutional address — ' To the President,' 
— was the only title which, as consistent republicans, they could sanction. 
Committees of conference were appointed, but to no purpose. The 
indomitable spirit of the House of Representatives was not to be moved. 
The Senate finally resolved ' that it would be proper to address the Presi- 
dent by some respectful title ; but, for the sake of harmony, they would 
for the present act in conformity with the House of Representatives.' 
And thus the matter has rested to this day. 

Summoned by the worthy messenger of Congress to repair to the 
seat of government and assume the high trust which had been conferred 
upon him by the people, the progress of the President elect, from the 
shades of Vernon to New York, was like a triumphant procession along 
the whole distance. At Philadelphia he was met by Governor St. Clair, 
General Mifflin, and other distinguished citizens, with the most rapturous 
enthusiasm. A grand banquet was prepared, of which he partook, and 
addresses were presented to him from all classes of the people, expressive 
of their gratitude for his past services, their joy for his present elevation, 
and their confidence in his future administration. As he passed through 
the streets, the welkin rang with their joyous acclamations, and shouts 
of ' Long live George Washington, the father of his people,' resounded 
from thousands of voices. But however flattering would have been 
these spontaneous marks of popular affection to ordinary mortals, the 
conduct of the great chief on the occasion illustrated the republican 
virtue of dignified humility, and showed how excellent is glory when 
earned by virtue. Instead of assuming the pomp of royalty, or of any 
personal superiority, he sought throughout to prove himself, not only the 
friend of the people, but one of them. 

An escort attended him from the hospitable city of Penn, until he 
was received by the citizens of Trenton, into which place he was conducted 
by the civil and military authorities of New Jersey, with every patriotic 
demonstration of respect and joy. This place had been rendered memor- 
able by the capture of the Hessians, and by the repulse of the British 
troops near the bridge over the Delaware, the night before the battle of 
Trenton. Recollecting these circumstances, the ladies of that city formed 
and executed the design of testifying their gratitude to the chieftain for 
the protection of their daughters, by celebrating those actions in their 
pageant. For this purpose a triumphal arch was raised on the bridge, 
of twenty feet span, supported by thirteen pillars, each of which was 
entwined with wreaths of evergreens. The arch was covered with 



17-2 

branches of laurel, and decorated on the inside with evergreens and 
flowers. Suitable inscriptions were tastefully disposed, intertwined with 
flowers of various hues. On the center of the arch above, stood a dome 
bearing the dates of the glorious actions referred to, inscribed in letters 
of gold, and enwreathed with flowers. The summit of the dome displayed 
a large sun-flower, which, directing to the sun, signified, in the language 
of Flora, " To you alone " — an emblem of the unanimity of tbe people in 
his favor. Assembled beneath the arch were many ladies, surrounded 
by their daughters, to welcome their former deliverer and defender. As 
the chieftain passed beneath the arch, a choir of girls, dressed in white, 
and crowned with wreaths and chaplets of flowers, sung a sonata composed 
for the occasion, commencing — 

" Welcome mighty chief once more." — 

Each of the white-robed misses carried a basket of flowers, which, as the 
concluding line — 

" Strew your hero's way with flowers," — 

were scattered in his path as he advanced. The pageant was simple and 
beautiful ; and the General returned thanks for the compliment in a card 
which was published at the time, and in which the white-robed maidens 
were particularly mentioned. 

Thence to ELizabethtown, the journey of the chieftain was a con- 
tinued pageant, in which no means were left untried by the people to 
testify their attachment to the ruler of their choice. At this point, prepa- 
rations had been made to receive their illustrious fellow-citizen by the 
authorities of New York. A splendid barge, constructed for the occasion, 
and elegantly decorated, had been dispatched thither to receive the 
beloved soldier and statesman, in a manner corresponding with his 
exalted character, and the dignity of the station he was about to fill. The 
barge was rowed by thirteen masters of vessels, Thomas Randall, Esq., 
acting as cockswain, and commanded by Commodore Nicholson. A 
deputation from the Senate and House of Representatives, together with 
the Chancellor of the State, the Adjutant-General, and the Recorder of 
of the City, proceeded to Elizabeth town in the barge, which was accom- 
panied by two others, one being occupied by the Board of the Treasury, 
and the other by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Secretary of 
War. 

The embarkation took place on the morning of April 23d — as clear 
and beautiful a day as could have been desired. A salvo of artillery 
announced the departure of the flotilla from the Jersey shore, and the 
spectacle, as the fleet of boats which had joined the procession emerged 
from the narrow pass of the Kills into the noble bay of New York, was 
of the most animating description. From every point, the smaller craft 



173 

of all kinds and degrees, sped their way thither to join in the fleet. All 
the flags and nautical decorations upon which hands could be laid for the 
occasion, were put in requisition, and were now fluttering in the breeze, 
as the thousand boats danced lighty over the blue waters, and the many 
thousands of oars, briskly plied, flashed in the sunbeams, as with every 
stroke they were lifted from the foam. Every ship in the harbor was 
gayly dressed for the occasion, excepting the Galveston, a Spanish man- 
of-war, which lay at anchor, displaying only her own proper colors. The 
contrast which she presented when compared with the splendid flags and 
streamers floating from every other vessel in the bay, especially the 
government ship, the North Carolina, was universally observed, and the 
neglect was beginning to occasion unpleasant remarks ; when, as the 
barge of the General came abreast, in an instant, as if by magic, the 
Spaniard displayed every flag and signal known among nations. This 
handsome compliment was accompanied by a salute of thirteen guns. 
Salutes were also fired from the North Carolina and the Battery, of 
thirteen guns each. 

Stairs for the landing of the chieftain had been prepared upon Murray's 
Wharf, on arriving at which a salute was fired by a detachment of artil- 
lery commanded by Captain Van Dyck. He was there received by 
Governor Clinton, who made a congratulatory address on the occasion, 
together with the principal officers of the State, and the Mayor and Cor- 
poration of the city. There was a very large assemblage of people at the 
dock, waiting anxiously — but not impatiently — for the moment when 
they could greet the arrival of the great object of their proudest hopes 
and affections, and gratify their desires of looking — many of them again, 
and many others for the first time — upon that noble form and godlike 
countenance. There was no crowding for rank, or struggle for places, 
but all were respectful and decorous in their demeanor. One old man, 
whose head was frosted by upward of seventy winters, standing upon 
the wharf, was particularly noted as laboring under deep and evident 
emotion. He succeeded in grasping the hand of the chieftain, and, as 
he passed along, audibly but involuntarily expressed himself as follows : — 
' I have beheld him wdien commanding the American armies ; I saw him 
at the conclusion of peace, returning to the bosom of his family in his 
primeval habitation ; and now I behold him returning to take the chair 
of the Presidentship. I have not now another wish but that he may die 
as he has lived, the beloved of his country !' 

From the landing, the chief was conducted by a numerous proces- 
sion, civil and military, through Queen street to the quarters of Governor 
Clinton, in the large and ancient structure yet standing in Pearl street, 
near the intersection of Pine.* The military portion of the procession 

* Now called the Uuited States Hotel. 



174 

consisted of Captain Stokes' dragoons, Captain Van Dyck's artillery, the 
German Guards of Captain Scriba, a detachment of infantry under Cap- 
tains Swartwout and Steddiford, and the artillery of Colonel Bauman. 
Next came the Corporation, with the public officers ; the President elect 
walked with Governor Clinton, his old companion in arms. The clergy 
followed in a body. The foreign ambassadors in their carnages came 
next, and the citizens promiscuously brought up the rear. The whole 
were under the direction of Colonel Morgan Lewis (who yet survives, 
full of years and honors), marshal of the day, assisted by Majors Morton 
and Van Home, the former of whom is yet the active Major-General of 
the New York artillery. 

The day was one of unmingled joy. No former event of a civic 
character had more deeply arrested the public attention. The hand of 
labor was suspended, and the various pleasures of the city were concen- 
trated into a single enjoyment. All ranks and professions, with one 
universal acclaim, joined in the loud welcome to ' The Father of his 
Countiy.' The city was illuminated in the evening ; and many beautiful 
and appropriate transparencies were exhibited, creditable at once to the 
citizens who displayed them and to the artists by whom they were 
executed. 

The 30th day of April, 1789, was appointed by Congress for the 
august ceremony of inducting the first President of our Federal Union 
into his exalted station. Pursuant to previous notice and concert, all the 
churches in the city were opened at nine o'clock on the morning of that 
day, and their respective congregations repaired to them, to unite in 
imploring the blessing of Heaven on the new government. In these 
enlightened days, when chaplains are voted out of legislative halls from a 
sensitive regard to the rights of conscience and the people's money, it 
may, perhaps, appear strange that such a concerted ceremony should 
have preceded the other duties of the day. But the truth is, our Revolu- 
tionary forefathers were a race of men sui generis, and they had a way of 
doing things peculiar to themselves. They were in the habit of imploring 
the blessing of Heaven on all their important undertakings, and of 
returning thanks for all signal blessings ; and at the time of the estab- 
lishment of the Federal Government, the march of mind had not yet been 
so rapid as altogether to have left this custom in forgetfulness. 

At twelve o'clock a procession was formed under the conduct of 
Colonel Lewis, consisting of the same detachments of the State troops 
which had been detailed for the reception of the President elect on his 
landing. The President's house was then in Cherry street, a few doors 
from Franklin Square — which was at that period the court end of the 
town. The procession moved thence through Queen, Great Dock and 
Broad streets, until they arrived in front of the building called Federal 
Hall — it having been determined that the ceremony of administering the 



175 

oath should take place in the open space in front of the Senate Chamber, 
which was on the second story of the building, and in full view of the 
people who should assemble in Wall and Broad streets as spectators 
Stopping at the proper distance, the procession was divided into two 
parallel lines, facing inwardly, and the ' observed of all observers ' passed 
through with stately and solemn tread, attended by John Jay, General 
Knox, Chancellor Livingston, and other distinguished gentlemen. They 
were conducted first to the Senate Chamber, where the President elect 
was introduced to both Houses, assembled in convention to receive him. 
Thence the illustrious individual was conducted to the gallery or terrace 
before mentioned, overlooking the two streets in which the multitude had 
assembled. 

As the building under whose lofty pediment this imposing scene was 
exhibited has been so long swept from the face of the earth that few of 
the present generation have any distinct recollection of it, a description 
of it may aid our attempt to depict the sublime ceremony, which it is the 
principal design of the present chapter to bring before the reader. On 
the site of the old City Hall, which had served the provincials for a 
Court-House, and was a mean, unsightly object, projecting awkwardly 
into Wall street from the north, a noble edifice had been erected for the 
accommodation of Congress, on a plan and under the direction of Monsieur 
L' Enfant, a French architect, at that time in high repute, whose name 
Ave had occasion to mention in a preceding page. This building, like the 
first, projected into Wall street, but permitted foot-passengers to continue 
their promenades through an arched way. Over this arcade was a 
balcony, the pediment projecting over, which was supported by four 
massive Doric pillars, dividing the open space into three parts, and form- 
ing an area similar in that respect to the divisions in Raphael's 'Beautiful 
Gate of the Temple.' After the adoption of the Constitution, this build- 
ing was called Federal Hall.* Its front was upon Broad street, which 
was terminated by it. Persons on the balcony would consequently be in 
full view from that street; and it was there, within a few yards of the 
Hall, that a few select spectators took their stand. 

The volunteer companies of infantry were paraded in front of the 
Hall on Wall street. A troop of horse, uniformed and equipped much 
after the manner of Lee's and Sheldon's dragoons (as may be seen in 
the picture of Jack Laughton, the hero of Cooper's ' Spy,' as painted by 
our distinguished countryman, Dunlap), were prominent figures. Of the 
foot-soldiers, the most conspicuous were two companies of grenadiers, 
one of which was composed of the tallest youths of the city, and the 
other was the company of Germans, commanded by Captain Scriba, 
many of whom had been the slaves of the Prince of Hesse Cassel, and 

*In later years, succeeded by the Custom-House, which is now (18G8) the 
United States Sub-Treasury. 



176 

other petty sovereigns in the German states, but who now gloried in the 
liberty purchased for them, and secured to them by those whom they had 
been forced from their own country to assist in subduing. The first were 
dressed in blue, with red facings and gold-laced ornaments, cocked hats 
with white feathers, with waistcoats and breeches, and black gaiters or 
spatterdashes, close buttoned from the shoe to the knee, and covering the 
shoe-buckle. The second, or German company, wore blue coats, with 
yellow waistcoats and breeches, black gaiters, similar to those already 
described, and towering caps, cone-shaped, and faced with black bear- 
skin. A company in the full uniform of Scotch Highlanders, with the 
national music of the bagpipe, were seen among the military of the day, 
as also were several well disciplined and well equipped corps of light 
infantry and artillery. Colonel Lewis, the Marshal, was assisted by 
Major Morton, acting aid-de-camp, as on the occasion of the landing one 
week before. 

Both Houses of Congress having left their respective chambers to 
witness the ceremony, now quite filled the balcony and the space behind 
it. Every part of the building was thronged. From the balcony the 
view of Broad street was as of one mass, a silent and expectant throng ; 
with faces upturned they gazed upon the great object of their regard, as 
he came forth from the interior of the Hall, and took his place in the 
center of the balcony, between the two pillars which formed the bounda- 
ries of the middle compartment of the picture. He made his appear- 
ance in a plain suit of brown cloth, coat, waistcoat, and breeches, white 
silk stockings, and buckles of the simplest fashion in his shoes, and 
every article of his dress was of American manufacture.* His head was 
uncovered, his hair powdered and dressed in the prevailing fashion of 
that day, completed the costume in which his tall, fine figure was pre- 
sented to view, at the moment which formed that epoch in the history of 
nations. 

John Adams, the Vice-President, who had a few days previously been 
inducted into office without parade in the Senate, a short, athletic figure, 
in a somewhat similar garb, but with the old-fashioned Massachusetts 
wig, dressed and powdered, stood upon the right of the chieftain. Roger 
Sherman was seen in the group, a little behind, standing with Hamilton, 
and many other sages and warriors, among whom was the American 
artillerist, Knox, and the accomplished Baron Steuben. 

Opposite to the President elect stood Chancellor Livingston, in a full 
suit of black, ready to administer the oath of office. Between them the 
Secretary of the Senate, a small, short man, held the open Bible upon a 
rich crimson cushion. The man on whom all eyes were fixed, stretched 

* It is a fact that Washington and Adams were entirely clad in American 
fahrics on the occasion here described. 



177 

forth his hand with simplicity and dignity. The oath of office was 
administered. The Bible was raised, and his head bowed upon it to 
kiss the sacred volume. The Chancellor then proclaimed* that it was 
done, in a full distinct voice, and in the following words : ' Long live 
George Washington, President of the United States !' The silence 
of thousands was at an end — the air was rent with acclamations, dictated 
by reason, and bursting from the hearts and tongues of men who felt 
that the happiness of themselves, their posterity, and their country was 
secured. 

The President bowed and retired to the Hall of the Representatives, 
where the Senate also assembled, and he delivered his inaugural speech. 
Thence, the President, accompanied by the Vice-President, the Speaker 
of the House of Representatives, and the members of both Houses, 
repaired in procession to St. Paul's Church, where Divine service was 
performed by Bishop Provost, the Chaplain of the Senate ; and before 
the adjournment of Congress, they passed a resolution recpuesting the 
President to issue his proclamation, recommending to the people of the 
United States to observe a day of thanksgiving and prayer, on account of 
the successful organization of the new government. Strange to say, 
although Washington himself had been the President of the Convention 
which formed the Constitution, he had not discovered that such an act 
was unconstitutional ! He issued the proclamation, and the day was 
observed by the people accordingly. But we, of the present generation 
having had more time to study that instrument, know better its true 
intent and meaning than those who made it — not only on religious sub- 
jects, but divers and sundry others. 

To return from this digression, however — such was the spectacle ; 
so simple, so dignified was this august ceremony ! Contrast it with the 
impious mockery of Heaven and the degrading pageantry displayed to 
mislead the children of earth, which attends the coronation of European 
potentates, and every American must feel proud, and justly proud, when 
he contemplates the picture it presents of the institutions and manners of 
his own country ! ' It seemed,' said a young gentleman in a letter to a 
distant father, 'to be a solemn appeal to Heaven and earth at once. 
Upon the subject of this great and good man,' he added, ' I may, 
perhaps, be an enthusiast ; but I confess I was under an awful and 
religious persuasion that the Gracious Ruler of the Universe was look- 
ing down at that moment with peculiar complacency upon an act which, 
to the American portion of his creatures, was so very important. Under 
this impression, when the distinguished Chancellor of New York 
announced, in a very feeling manner, the words Long live George 
Washington, my sensibility was wound up to such a pitch, that I could 
do no more than wave my hat with the rest, without the power of joining 
in the repeated acclamations which rent the air.' 
12 



178 
• 
The proceedings of the day had all been marked by that gravity and 
solemnity befitting the importance of the occasion. It was, however, a day 
of unmingled rejoicing ; and after the more imposing civic and religious 
ceremonies were over, the popular feeling broke forth in the usual mani- 
festations of gladness. The festivities closed by an illumination in the 
evening of unparalleled splendor, and by a display of fireworks under the- 
direction of Colonel Bauman, of the artillery, which had only been equaled 
on this side the Atlantic by the memorable pyrotechnical exhibition which 
took place at West Point during the Revolution, when our French allies 
were celebrating the birth of the Dauphin — the unfortunate youn;; 
prince who subsequently, after his father's execution, himself fell a victim 
to that spirit of freedom which those French officers imbibed in this 
country, and which running to riot after their return, drenched the- 
whole surface of France in blood. 

Great pains had been taken by the principal citizens and the public 
authorities in the preparation of appropriate transparencies. At the foot 
of Broadway a splendid painting was exhibited, representing the Virtues 
of Fortitude, Justice, and Wisdom, intended as emblems, the first of the 
President, the second of the Senate, and the third of the House of 
Representatives. Of the propriety of the first the world had had the 
fullest evidence ; and the two others were well applied then, however 
great would be the solecism of such an appropriation of those attributes 
in later and more degenerate days. ' The Federal Hall was illuminated 
with great splendor, and attracted universal attention. The Theater, 
then situated at the corner of Fly-Market Slip, was likewise tastefully 
illuminated by various patriotic and attractive paintings. The ship North 
Carolina, lying off the Battery, displayed a glorious pyramid of stars, 
lustrous and beautiful as the lamps of heaven. 

The illuminations of private residences which attracted the greatest 
attention, were those of the French and Spanish Ministers — the Count 
Moustier and Don Gardoqui. These Ministers both felt a lively interest 
in the rising destinies of the young republic, and lost no suitable occa- 
sion for testifying their friendship. Their houses were situated in Broad- 
way, near the Bowling Green, and they seem to have exerted a generous 
rivalship in their preparations for celebrating this event. The illumina- 
tions of both were in a style of elegance and splendor alike novel, attrac- 
tive, and beautiful. The doors and windows of Count Moustier displayed 
splendid borderings of lamps, with fancy pieces in each window of tasteful 
and complimentary designs. But the decorations of the Spaniard's mansion 
excelled. The tout ensemble formed a superbly brilliant front. The prin- 
cipal transparency represented the figures of the Graces, exceedingly well 
executed, among a pleasing variety of patriotic emblems, together with 
shrubbery, arches, flowers, and fountains. The effect was greatly height- 
ened by the disposition of moving pictures of persons and figures in the 



179 

background, so skillfully devised and executed as to present the illusion 
of a living panorama in a little spot of fairy land. 

But we will not dwell too long upon the incidents of this joyful 
evening, as other objects crowd upon our attention. The inauguration 
was succeeded by a round of fetes of a different description, the recollec- 
tion of which it is our design briefly to revive, before concluding the 
present chapter of reminiscences. 

For several subsequent days, the time of the President was much 
occupied in receiving visits, official and unofficial, of individuals, societies, 
and public bodies, calling to pay their respects to the first magistrate. 
In all instances, their reception was such as still more to endear the 
illustrious man in their affections ; for although inured to the camp, and 
in earlier life to the still rougher service of border warfare in the wilder- 
ness, no one could dispense the courtesies of the drawing-room, or the 
ceremonies of state with more true dignity, blended with a just measure 
of affability and condescension, than Washington. 

Extensive preparations had been made by the subscribers to the city 
dancing assemblies, to pay the President the compliment of an inaugu- 
ration ball. The honored lady of the chieftain, however, had not accom- 
panied her august husband to New York, but was to follow in a few 
days. The anxiety for her arrival was, therefore, great, though of 
course proportionably less than it had been for the President elect him- 
self. But a short time intervened before her approach to Elizabethtown 
was announced, accompanied by the lady of Robert Morris, of Philadel- 
phia — then in the Pecleral Senate. She was met by the President at Eliza- 
bethtown Point, who proceeded thither, with Robert Morris and several 
other gentlemen of distinction, in the barge already described, rowed, as 
before, by thirteen eminent pilots, in handsome white dresses. The 
passage through the bay again presented a brilliant spectacle ; a salute 
was fired on passing the Battery, and on her landing she was welcomed 
by crowds of citizens who had assembled to testify their joy. 

The ball was truly an elegant entertainment, and is recollected as 
such by a few who yet survive of the brilliant circle that graced it. The 
old 'City Assembly Rooms,' in which it took place, was in a large wooden 
building standing upon the site of the present City Hotel. In addition 
to the distinguished pair for whom it was given, it was honored by the 
Vice-President, the Speaker of the House, and most of the members of 
both branches of Congress ; Governor (George) Clinton, Chancellor Liv- 
ingston, Chief-Justice Yates, of New York ; the Hon. John Jay, General 
Knox, the Commissioners of the Treasury, James Duane, Mayor of the 
city; the Baron Steuben, General Hamilton, the French and Spanish 
Ambassadors, and many other distinguished gentlemen, both Americans 
and foreigners. Never was a lady, either in public or private life, more 
popular than Mrs. Washington, and from the moment of her arrival, the 



180 

most respectful attentions had been paid to her by the principal ladies of 
the city, and by those likewise of celebrity from a distance. A numerous 
and brilliant collection of ladies consequently graced the saloon with their 
presence, and the decorations were such as in all respects comported with 
their presence and the proud occasion. Among the leading circle were 
the lady of his Excellency Governor Clinton, Lady Sterling, Lady Mary 
Watts, Lady Kitty Duer, La Marchioness de Brehan, Mrs. Langdon, Mrs. 
Dalton, Mrs. Duane (the Mayoress), Mrs. Peter Van Brook Livingston, 
Mrs. Livingston, of Clermont ; Mrs. Chancellor Livingston, the Misses 
Livingston, Lady Temple, Madame de la Forest, Mrs. Montgomery, Mrs. 
Knox, Mrs. Thomson, Mrs. Gerry, Mrs. Edgar, Mrs. McComb, Mrs. Lynch, 
Mrs. Houston, Mrs. Griffin, Mrs. Provost, the Misses Bayard, and many 
others of the most respectable families in the State and from abroad. The 
whole number of ladies and gentlemen at the fete exceeded three hundred. 

There was more of etiquette in the arrangements for this compli- 
mentary ball than was thought by some to be exactly consistent with our 
republican institutions, and more, in fact, than was altogether agreeable 
to the feelings of him in whose honor it was observed. In connection 
with the managers of the assemblies, Colonel Humphries and Colonel 
William S. Smith were selected to adjust the ceremonies, and their 
arrangements were reported to have been as follows : At the head of the 
room, upon a platform handsomely carpeted, and beneath a rich drapery 
of curtains and banners, was placed a damask-covered sofa, upon which 
the President and Lady Washington were to be seated. The platform 
was ascended by a flight of three or four steps. The costume of the gen- 
tlemen was prescribed ; their hair was to be dressed in bags, with two 
long curls on the sides, with powder, of course, and all were to appear and 
dance with small swords. Each gentleman, on taking a partner to dance 
was to lead her to the sofa and make a low obeisance to the President 
and his lady, and repeat the ceremony of respect before taking their seats 
after the figure was concluded. The decorations of the assembly room 
were truly splendid and very tastefully disposed. 

At that time there had been no more brilliant assemblage of ladies in 
America than were collected on this occasion. Few jewels were then worn 
in the United States, but in other respects their dresses were rich and 
beautiful, according to the fashions of the day. We are not quite sure 
that we can describe the full dress of a lady of rank at the period under 
consideration so as to render it intelligible. But we will make the attempt. 
One favorite dress was a plain celestial blue satin gown, with a white satin 
petticoat. On the neck was worn a very large Italian ■ gauze handker- 
chief, with border stripes of satin. The head-dress was a jyouf of gauze, 
in the form of a globe, the creneaux or head-piece of which was composed 
of white satin, having a double wing, in large plaits and trimmed with a 
wreath of artificial roses falling from the left at the top to the right at 



181 

the bottom in front, and the reverse behind. The hair was dressed all 
over in detached curls, four of which, in two ranks, fell on each side of 
the neck, and was relieved behind by a floating chignon. 

Another beautiful dress was a perriot, made of gray Indian taffeta 
with dark stripes of the same color, having two collars, the one yellow 
and the other white, both trimmed with a blue silk fringe, and a reverse 
trimmed in the same manner. Under the perriot they wore a yellow 
corset or boddice, with large cross stripes of blue. Some of the ladies 
with this dress wore hats a VEspagnole of white satin, with a band of the 
same material placed on the crown, like the wreath of flowers on the 
head-dress above-mentioned. This hat, which, with a plume, was a very 
popular article of dress, was relieved on the left side, having two hand- 
some cockades, one of which was at the top and the other at the bottom. 
On the neck was worn a very large plain gauze handkerchief, the ends of 
which were hid under the boddice, after the manner represented in 
Trumbull's and Stuart's portraits of Lady Washington. Round the 
bosom of the perriot a frill of gauze, a la Henri IV, was attached, cut in 
points around the edge. 

There was still another dress which was thought to be very simple 
and pretty. It consisted of a perriot and petticoat, both composed of the 
same description of gray striped silk, and trimmed round with gauze, 
cut in points at the edges in the manner of herrisons. The herrisons were 
indeed nearly the sole trimmings used for the perriots, caracos, and petti- 
coats of fashionable ladies, made either of ribands or Italian gauze. With 
this dress they wore large gauze handkerchiefs upon their neck, with 
four satin stripes around the border, two of which were narrow and the 
others broad. The head-dress was a plain gauze cap, after the form of 
the elders and ancients of a nunnery. The shoes were celestial blue with 
rose-colored rosettes. 

Such are descriptions of some of the principal costumes of the ladies 
who graced the inauguration ball of Washington, and although varied in 
divers unimportant particulars, by the several ladies, according to their 
respective tastes and fancies, yet, as with the peculiar fashions of all other 
times, there was a general correspondence of the outlines, the tout ensemble 
was the same. 

The President and his lady were introduced and conducted through 
the saloon to the seat provided for them by Colonel Humphries, a man: 
of fine accomplishments and manners. General Knox had just been 
appointed Secretary of War, and his lady had been charged with so far 
resembling Ceesar, as to have been somewhat ' ambitious.' Be that 
as it may, it was said in those days that she so arranged her own 
movements as to enter the saloon with the President and his lady, follow- 
ing them to their station and ascending the steps, with the evident design 
of obtaining an invitation from the President to a seat upon the honored 



182 

sofa. Unluckily, however, the seat was too narrow for the accommoda- 
tion of three persons, and the lady of the war minister, with deep and 
apparent mortification, was compelled to descend to the level of those 
who had shown themselves to be less openly aspiring. No other incident 
worthy of especial note occurred during the evening, or none which 
attracted particular attention. 

Among the gayest and most courteous of the cavaliers present was 
the Baron Steuben. Well educated and bred in a German court, having 
also mingled much in the splendid court circles of Louis XV, in Paris, 
where he had usually passed his winters previous to his emigration to 
America, the manners of this gallant officer were formed upon the best 
model of graceful ease, affability, and dignity. He was thus, perhaps 
as well qualified to teach the tactics of the drawing-room as those of the 
field. But. too much of the real gentleman to appear in the least degree 
assuming, he was a universal favorite. His dress was of rich black silk 
velvet, with the star of his order upon his breast, and he had ever some 
witty or playful remark for every person and every occasion, which was 
received with additional interest from his German accent and the little 
and often ludicrous mistakes to which he was liable from his imperfect 
knowledge of the English idioms. 

The salutatory exercises were such as were usual in those times and 
on great occasions. There are a few of both sexes yet living who then 
mingled in the dance, but the incidents of the festive night, linger in their 
memories like the fragments of a broken vision in times that are passed- 
They remember only that the exercise went on 

' "With smooth step 
Disclosing motion in its every charm, 
To swim along and swell the mazy dance,' 

presenting to the eye, as in Milton's beautiful description of the dances 
of the angels — 

'Mazes intricate, 
Eccentric intervolved. yet regular 
Then most, when most irregular they seem.' 

The illustrious chieftain himself did not hesitate to countenance the 
elegant amusement by participation, as the heroes and statesmen of anti- 
quity, the demi-gods of the Greeks and Eomans. had done before him. 
Mrs. Peter Van Brook Livingston and Mrs. Hamilton were successively 
honored by the chieftain's hand in a cotilhon. He afterward danced a 
minuet with Miss Van Zandt, subsequently the lady of William Maxwell, 
Esq., vice-president of the Bank. There was dignity and grace in every 
movement of this incomparable man. But in the minuet, which is held 
to be the perfection of all dancing, he appeared to more than his wonted 
advantage. The minuet contains in itself a compound variety of as many 



183 

movements in the serpentine, which is the line of beauty, as can well be 
put together in distinct quantities, and is, withal, an exceedingly fine com- 
position of movements. It is, therefore, the best of all descriptions of 
dancing to display the graces of person and attitude, and never did the 
majestic form of Washington appear to greater advantage than on the 
present occasion of elegant trifling. There was, moreover, youth and 
beauty in the countenance, grace in the step, and heaven in the eye of 
his fair partner. 

Shortly after the brilliant spectacle which we have thus attempted but 
imperfectly to describe, the President was complimented by another sim- 
ilar fete, which he also honored by his presence, given by the French 
Minister. The pageant was one of uncommon elegance, both as it 
l-espected the character of the company and the plan of the entertainment. 
As a compliment to the alliance of the United States and France, there 
were two sets of cotillion dances in complete uniforms. The uniform of 
France was worn by one set, and that of the United States, the Eevolu- 
tionary blue and buff, by the other. The ladies were dressed in white, 
with ribands, bouquets, and garlands of flowers, answering to the uni- 
forms of the gentlemen. But it would be alike wearisome and unneces- 
sary to enter into further particulars. 



The levees of President Washington were far more select and rational 
than are those of the same officer at the present day. They were nume- 
rously attended by all that was fashionable, elegant, and refined in 
in society, but there were no places for the intrusion of the rabble in 
crowds, or for the mere coarse and boisterous partisan, the vulgar elec- 
tioneered or the impudent place-hunter, with boots, and frock coats, or 
roundabouts, or with patched knees and holes at both elbows. On the 
contrary, they were select and more courtly than have been given by any 
of his successors. 

Proud of her husband's exalted fame and jealous of the honors due ; 
not only to his own lofty character, but to the dignified station to which 
a grateful country had called him, Mrs. Washington was careful in her 
drawing-rooms to exact those courtesies to which she knew he was 
entitled, as well on account of personal merit as of official consideration. 
Fortunately, moreover, democratic rudeness had not then so far gained 
the ascendancy as to banish good manners, and the charms of social inter- 
course were heightened by a reasonable attention in the best circles to 
those forms and usages which indicate the well-bred assemblage, and 
fling around it an air of elegance and grace which the envious only 
affect to decry, and the innately vulgar only rid ; cule and contemn. None 
therefore, were admitted to the levees but those who had either a right by 



184 

official station to be there, or were entitled to the privilege by established 
merit and character, and fidl dress was required of all.* 

Mrs. Washington was a pleasing and agreeable, rather than a splen- 
did woman. Her figure was not commanding, but her manners were 
easy, conciliatory and attractive. Her domestic arrangements were 
always concerted under her own eye, and everything within her house- 
hold moved forward with the regularity of machinery. No daughter of 
Eve ever worshipped her lord with more sincere and affectionate venera- 
tion ; and none had ever cause to render greater or more deserved homage. 
When absent, he was ever in her thoughts, and her mild eyes kindled at 
his presence. She was well educated, and possessed strong native sense, 
guided by all necessary prudence and discretion. She rarely conversed 
upon political subjects, and when the most expert diplomatists would 
attempt to draw her out, she had the faculty of turning the course of 
conversation with equal dexterity and politeness. At all the President's 
entertainments, whether at the table or in the drawing-room, notwith- 
standing the regard to etiquette heretofore adverted to. there was neverthe- 
less so much kindness of feeling displayed, and such an unaffected degree of 
genuine hospitality, that golden opinions were won alike from the foreign 
and domestic visitors. 

In those days, late hours were not necessary to fashion ; and many 
of our fair metropolitan readers, who are in the habit of dressing at ten 
to enter a distant drawing-room at eleven, will doubtless be surprised to 
learn that Mrs. Washington's levees closed always at nine ! This was a 
rule which that distinguished lady established on the occasion of holding 
her first levee, on the evening of January 1, 1790. The President's 
residence was in the Franklin House, at the head of Cherry street. 
"The day,'' says a letter* of our venerable and estimable friend, John 
Pintard, Esq. — who was then in the heyday of youth and life, mingling 
with the fashionable world — " was uncommonly mild and pleasant. It 
was about full moon, and the air so bland and serene, that the ladies 
attended in their light summer shades. Introduced by the aids and 
gentlemen in waiting, after being seated, tea, coffee, plain and plum cake 
were handed round. Familiar and friendly conversation ensued, and 
kind inquiries, on the part of Mrs. Washington, after the families of the 
exiles, with whom she had been acquainted during the Revolutionary 
War. and who always received marked attention from General Washington 

* Some show, if not of state, at least of respect for the high officer they were to 
visit, was exacted down to the close of Mr. Madison's administration. Mr. Monroe 
required less formality and attention to dress, and the second President Adams less 
still. But respect and reverence for the office still kept the multitude, who had no 
business there, from the President's drawing-rooms until the year 1829, when — but 
tempera mutantur .' 

* To Colonel Morris, of the New York Mirror. 



185 

Mrs. Washington stood by the side of the General in receiving the respects- 
of the visitors. * * * * Amid the social chit-chat of the company, the 
Hall clock struck nine. Mrs. Washington thereupon rose with dignity ? 
and, looking around the circle with a complacent smile, observed : ' The 
General always retires at nine, and I usually precede him.' At this hint 
the ladies instantly rose, adjusted their dresses, made their salutations, 
and retired." 

General Washington had, on that day, been waited upon by the 
principal gentlemen of the city, according to the ancient New York custom 
of social and convivial visiting on that day. " After being severally intro- 
duced, and paying the usual compliments of the season," says Mr. Pintard, 
" the citizens mutually interchanged their kind greetings, and withdrew, 
highly gratified by the friendly notice of the President, to most of whom 
he was personally a stranger." In the course of the evening, while 
speaking of the occurrences of the day, Mrs. Washington remarked : " Of 
all the incidents of the clay, none so pleased the General," by which title 
she always designated him, " as the friendly greetings of the gentlemen 
who visited him at noon." To the inquiry of the President, whether it 
was casual or customary, he was answered that it was an annual custom, 
derived from our Dutch forefathers, which had always been commemorated. 
After a short pause, he observed : " The highly -favored situation of New York 
will, in the process of years, attract numerous emigrants, who will gradually change 
its ancient customs and manners; hut, let whatever changes take place, never 

FORGET THE CORDIAL, CHEERFUL OBSERVANCE OF NEW YEAR'S DAY." The WOrds 

made an indelible impression on the mind of the writer, and, at this 
distance of time, are here recorded, to preserve them, if possible, from 
total oblivion. 

On the 12th day of May, 1789, about two weeks after General 
Washington had taken the oath of office, the oldest political organization 
in the city now in existence — the Tammany Society, or Columbian Order — 
was instituted. The year following (1790), a most interesting event in 
the history of this organization occurred, which, at the time, excited con- 
siderable interest among the citizens of New York. The United States 
had long been desirous of forming a treaty of friendship and alliance 
with the Creek Indians, and various unsuccessful attempts had been made 
to effect this object. At length, Colonel Marinus Willet went to that nation^ 
and induced Alexander McGilvery, a half-breed, with about thirty of the 
principal chiefs, to come to this city. The Tammany Society determined 
to receive them with great ceremony. The members, at that day, were 
accustomed to dress in the Indian costume, and on this occasion they 
wore feathers, moccasins, leggings, painted their faces, and sported huge 
war-clubs and burnished tomahawks. When the Creeks entered the 
wigwam, they were so surprised to see such a number of their own race, 
that they set up a whoop of joy, which almost terrified the people present. 



186 

On the occasion of this interview, Governor George Clinton, Chief-Justice 
Jay, Mr. Duane (the Mayor), Mr. Jefferson, Secretary of State, and other 
distinguished men were present. The Creeks were overjoyed with their 
reception. They performed a dance, and sang the E-tho song. Mr. 
Smith, the Grand Sachem of the Society, made a speech to the Indians, 
jn which lie told them that although the hand of death was cold upon 
those two great Chiefs, Tammany and Columbus, their spirits were walk- 
ing backward and forward in the wigwam. The Sagamore presented 
the Chiefs with the calumet, and one of them dubbed the Grand Sachem. 
" Ttjliva Mico, or Chief of the White Town." In the evening they went 
to the theater, attended by the Sachems and members. Before they left 
the city, they entered into a treaty of friendship with " Washington, the 
Beloved Sachem of the Thirteen Fires," as they were pleased to call him- 

In June of the same year, the Society established a museum for the 
purpose of collecting and preserving everything relating to the history of 
the country. A room was granted for its use in the City Hall, and 
Gardiner Baker was appointed to take charge of the collection. In 1794. 
it was removed to a brick building standing directly in the middle of the 
street, at the intersection of Broad and Pearl streets, called the Exchange. 
The lower part was used as a market but the upper part, being light 
and airy, was well calculated for displaying the many curiosities which 
now by the indefatigable exertions of Mr. Baker had been collected. On 
the 25th of June, 1795, the Society passed a resolution relinquishing to 
Gardiner Baker all their right and title to the museum. He had taken 
so much pains and incured so much expense in getting it up, that he 
could with good reason, make a claim upon it. It was therefore given 
up to him, upon condition that it should be forever known as the " Tam- 
many Museum." in honor of its founders, and that each member of his 
family should have free access to it. This Museum, after the death of 
Baker, was sold to Mr. W. I. Waldron, and. after passing through 
various hands, formed the foundation of what was afterwards called the 
" American" or " Scudder's Museum,'' in Chatham street.* 

The opening of the nineteenth century found New York vastly 
improved. As commerce and trade revived, it was found necessary to 
enlarge the grounds of the city and give it a more presentable appear- 
ance to the many foreigners who had already begun to flock thither for 
trade. The city now numbered twenty-three thousand souls exclusive of 
a floating population, large even for that early day. Eeade and Duane 
streets were laid out and opened to the public in 179-4. The waste 
grounds around the Collect were filled in and graded ; a canal, following 
the present Canal street (whence the name), was cut through from the 
Collect to the North River with a view of draining the Lispenand 

* History of the Tammany Society, by R. G. Horton. 



187 

meadows ; the beautiful lake was filled up and made firm ground ; the 
grade of Broadway, from Buane to Canal street, was determined upon 
by the city authorities ; the streets had received numbers ; the United 
States Navy Yard, at Brooklyn, had been begun ; the plan of the present 
modern city, with its parallel streets and broad avenues, had been 
adopted ; Washington, Union, Madison, and Tompkins Squares, had 
been laid out ; the great salt meadow on the eastern side of the city had 
been drained, and already, in imagination, divided into building-lots • 
and as the grand step in this march of improvement, New York received 
in 1790, her first sidewalks, which were laid on both sides of Broad- 
way, from Vesey to Murray street. True, these sidewalks were only 
narrow pavements of brick, scarcely allowing two lean men to walk 
abreast or one fat man alone; still they were far preferable to walking 
in the middle of the streets on cobble-stones — especially if a person had 
corns. At this time, also, Nassau and Pine streets were what the upper 
part of Fifth avenue is now. Pearl (then Queen) street, from Hanover 
square to John street, was the abode of wealth and fashion. Wall street, 
now given over to the sordid purpose of Mammon, was the gay prome- 
nade on bright afternoons, and there many a gallant's heart has been 
pierced by glances shot from beneath the frizzled locks of the fair sex ; 
while the beaux with their powdered curls before, and their neat black 
silk bags behind the head, their laced ruffles and desperately square-toed 
shoes, were equally comme il faut. The City Hall stood at the foot of 
Nassau street. Just below it was the elegant mansion of Mr. Verplanck 
and immediately opposite, on the corner of Broad street, was the Watch- 
House ; while further down, at the corner of New street, stood Becker's 
Tavern — then a place of great resort. In Nassau street resided the Jays, 
Waddingtons, Radcliffes, Brinckerhoffs, and other prominent families. 
Where the Merchants' Exchange now stands were the residences of 
Thomas Buchanan, Mrs. White, and W. C. Leffingwell ; while in Pearl 
street were the fashionable dwellings of Samuel Denton, John Ellis, John 
J. Clover, John Mo watt, Eobert Lennox, Thomas Cadle, John B. Murray, 
Lieutenant-Governor Broome, Andrew Ogden, Governor George Clinton 
and Eichard Varick. Near the looation of the present City Hall was the 
Alms-House, with the bridewell on one side and the prison on the other, 
Grenzeback's grocery stood were French's Hotel now does. There were 
but three or four buildings on the block where Tammany Hall lately 
stood, one of which, nearly on the present site of the Tribune buildings, 
was a place of great resort for military men. The only remaining rem. 
nants of the neighborhood in that time are the wooden shanties, with 
their moss-covered roofs, which now disfigure Chatham street, opposite 
Centre.* 



R. G-. Horton's History of the Tammany Society. 



188 

THE FIRE 0E 1804. 

One event, however, was to impede for' a short time the progress 
which the city was making on the road to prosperity. This was the fire 
of 1804, About two o'clock on the night of the 18th of December, of 
that year, a serious fire commented in a grocery store on Front street. 
The air was cold, and a high wind blowing and the eifgines late in their 
appearance, the devouring clement extended with unexampled rapidity. 
destroying many valuable stores and dwellings, with their contents. 
The buildings from the west side of Coffee- House Slip, on Water street, 
to Governeur's Lane, and thence down to the East River, were swept 
away, and crossing Wall street, the houses upon the east side of the slip 
were also burned. Among them were the old Tontine Coffee-House, so 
celebrated in its way. with several brick stores. Most of the buildings 
being of wood, their destruction caused new and fire-proof brick edifices 
to be built in their places. About forty stores and dwellings were con- 
sumed — fifteen on Wall street, seventeen on Front, and eight in Water 
street. The value of the property destroyed amounted to one or two 
millions of dollars, and the fire was supposed to be the work of incen- 
diaries, from anonymous letters scut to a merchant previous to the event. 
Five hundred dollars reward was offered by the Mayor for the appre- 
hension of the incendiaries. This same region, thirty-one years after- 
ward, was to witness the greatest conflagration which ever took place in 
this city. 

The year 1804 was indeed a memorable date in the annals of the 
City. In that year the Historical Society was founded, with De Witt 
Clinton for its first vice-president ; the present City Hall began to rise 
from its foundation ; and the Public School Society was virtually deter- 
mined upon. It was marked also by dark signs : for, besides bringing 
the dreadful fire, which we have already described, it brought the death 
of Hamilton — killed in a duel by Burr — " and the loss of his brilliant 
gifts and guiding intellect.'' 

The year 1807 is also one yet more memorable, not only in the City's 
history, but in that of the United States and the globe. In that year was 
witnessed the successful introduction of steam navigation. " Who shall 
say what steam navigation has done to emancipate mankind from drudg- 
ery, and construct society upon the basis of liberty"? It is science turned 
liberator; and the saucy philosophy of the eighteenth century became 
the mighty and merciful helper of the nineteenth century. To us, indi- 
vidually and generally, how marvelous has been the gift ! Wherever 
that piston-rod rises and falls, and those paddles turn, man has a giant 
for his porter and defender. The liberty of the nation has been organ- 
ized rmder its protection ; and the great States of the Mississippi valley 
and the Pacific coast are brought within one loyal affinity, and build their 
new liberties upon the good old pattern of our fathers. Clinton and FuP 



189 

ton, the one identified with the rise of steam navigation, the other with 
the Erie Canal, are names that belong to universal history, as having given 
America its business unity, and brought its united wealth to bear upon 
the industry and commerce of the world." * 

On the 7th of August, 1807, the first steam-boat, the Clermont, con- 
structed and finished under the genius of Eobert Fulton, encouraged by 
Chancellor Livingston, stood in the stream opposite Jersey City, ready at 
a signal to start on her way to Albany. Thousands of citizens fined both 
banks of the river, and filled every kind of available water-craft with the 
expectation of witnessing the utter failure of "Fulton's Folly" — as they 
had tauntingly christened the new boat — and of having the satisfaction 
of saying, " I told you so." But that sentence was never to be uttered 5 
for, at the word from the inventor, the wheels began to revolve, slowly at 
first, then faster and faster, until " Fulton's Folly" vanished up the river, 
leaving the scoffers staring after it with blank visages and open mouths. 
The triumph was complete. 

A year ago, in the summer of 1867, the writer chanced to be a pas- 
senger on board of the swift and fairy-like steamer, the Chauncey 
Vibbard, of the Albany Day-Line.* While passing Catskill the birth- 
place of Thurlow Weed, the latter, who was also a passenger, was 
reminded of an incident of his boyhood, connected with the first trip of 
the Clermont, which he related to the Little circle gathered round liirn : 
" Sixty years ago, this very day," said Mr. Weed, " the first steam-boat 
passed up the Hudson from New York to Albany. The news spread 
like wild-fire, although there was then no telegraph, and the banks of 
the entire river were almost literally lined with people, to whom the first 
steam-boat was a much greater wonder than the Great Eastern to the 
present generation." To be on the bank, however, was not enough for 
Mr. Weed ; so, stripping off his clothes and placing them on a rude raft 
improvised for the occasion, he swam out into the stream, pushing the 
raft before him ; and from an island (now forming the main-land) he 

Dr Osgood's New York in the Nineteenth Century. 
* The CJumncey Vibbard — owned by J. McB. Davidson, Esq., of New York, and 
Alfred Van Santvoord, Esq., of Albany ; superintended by the latter, and com- 
manded by the genial and experienced seaman, Captain Hitchcock — is probably the 
fastest boat in existence. In the course of the trip mentioned in the text, the dis- 
tance between West Point and Newburg — ten miles — was made in twenty minutes 
and a half, nearly thirty miles an hour. The speed of the boat on this occasion was 
timed by Mr. Weed, Mr. Erastus Brooks, of the Express, and Mr. Wilkes, of the 
Spirit of tJie Times. This time becomes the more remarkable when it is stated that 
at the time the steam-boat had five hundred ani fifty passengers on board. The 
speed of Fulton's boat was about six miles an hour ! 



190 

watched, in actual fear and trembling, the singular, and to him weird, 
spectacle — 

" A peaceful bark o'er the waters sped, 
As this monster form drew near ; 
From his perilous post the helmsman fled, 
And the hailing captain bade with dread 
From her demon-wake to steer. 
****** 

•' From the fishermen's cabins the inmates burst, 
And were moved in their panic to say, 
That the ghosts of the Dutchmen had risen from dust 
To smoke their great pipes with a terrible gust, 
And hasten from Gotham away."* 

But before New York City was to attain to its present high position 
it was destined to pass through another period of darkness and depres- 
sion — the war of 1812 — a period, moreover, which was to be rendered 
additionally trying by the crippling of its resources by the terrible con- 
flagration of 1811. The Hon. G. P. Disosway, who, with a few others 
yet living, passed through this fiery ordeal, gives his personal reminis- 
cences of this fire as follows : 

TUE FIRE OF 1811. 

" An extensive fire broke out in Chatham street, near Duane, on Sunday morn- 
ing, May 19, 1811, raging furiously several hours. A brisk north-east wind was 
blowing at the moment, and the flames spreading with great rapidity, for some time 
seemed to baffle all the exertions of the firemen and citizens. Between eighty and 
one hundred buildings, on both sides of Chatham street, were consumed in a few 
hours. 

" We well remember that conflagration. The writer was then a Sabbath-School 
boy, and a teacher in a public school-room near by, at the corner of Tryon Row. The 
school was dismissed, and, as usual, proceeded to old John Street Church, thick 
showers of light burning shingles and cinders falling all over the streets. That was 
the day of shingle roofs. When the teachers and scholars, their number very large, 
reached the church the venerable Bishop McKendall occupied the pulpit, and seeing 
the immense clouds of dark smoke and living embers enveloping that section of the 
city, he advi.sed the men ' to go to the fire and help in its extinguishment, and he 
would preach to the women and children. This advice was followed. 

By this time the scene had become very exciting 1 , impressive, and even fearful. 
We have not forgotten it, and never will. The wind had increased to a gale, and 
far and wide and high flew the blazing flakes in whirling eddies, throwing burning 
destruction wherever they lit or fell. 

The lofty spires near by of the ' Brick Meeting,' St. Paul's, and ' St. George's 
Chapel,' enveloped in the rapidly passing embers, soon became the especial objects of 
watchfulness and anxiety. Thousands of uplifted eyes, and we doubt not prayers, 
were directed toward these holy tabernacles, now threatened with speedy destruc- 
tion. And there was cause for fear. Near the ball at the top of the ' Brick Church 
a blazing spot was seen outside, and apparently not larger than a man's head. 

* Mrs. Sigourney's poem, entitled, " The First Steam-boat." 



191 

Instantly, a thrill of fear evidently ran through the bosoms of the thousands crowd- 
ing the Park and the wide area of Chatham street. They feared the safety of an old 
and loved temple of the Lord, and they feared also, if the spire was once in flames, 
with the increasing gale, what would be the terrible consequence on the lower part 
of the city. 

' What can we do ?' wasthe universal question — ' what in the world can be done?' 
was in everybody's mouth. The kindling spot could not be reached from the inside 
of the tall steeple, nor by ladders outside ; neither could any fire-engine, however 
powerful, force the water to that lofty height. With the deepest anxiety, fear and 
trembling, all faces were turned in that direction. At this moment of alarm and 
dread, a sailor appeared on the roof of the church, and very soon was seen climbing up 
the steeple, hand over hand, by the lightning-rod ! — yes, by the rusty, slender iron ! 
Of course, the excitemont now became most intense ; and the perilous undertaking of 
the daring man was watched every moment, as he slowly, step by step, grasp after 
grasp, literally crawled upward, by means of his slim conductor. Many fear3 were 
expressed among the immense crowds, watching every inch of his ascent, for there 
was no resting-place for hands and feet, and he must hold on, or fall and perish ; and 
should he succeed in reaching the burning spot, how could he possibly extinguish it, 
as water, neither by hose nor buckets, could be sent to his assistance ? ' But where 
there is a will, there is a way,' says the old maxim, and it was at this fearful crisis 
he reached the kindling spot, and firmly grasping the lightning-rod in one hand, 
with the other he removed his tarpaulin hat from his head, and with it, literally, 
blow after blow, thick, strong, and unceasing, extinguished or beat out the fire ! 
Shouts of joy and thanks greeted the noble fellow, as he slowly and safely descended 
to the earth again. The ' Old Brick' was thus preserved from the great conflagration 
of that Sunday morning. Our hero quickly disappeared in the crowd, and, it was 
said, immediately sailed abroad, with the favorable wind then blowing. A reward 
was offered for the person who performed this daring, generous act ; but it is said 
that some imposter £>cissed himself off for the real hero, and obtained the promised 
amount. 

The cupola of the ' Old Jail,' which stood on the spot now occupied by the 
' Hall of Records,' also took fire. This was extinguished through the exertions of a 
prisoner, ' on the limits.' This was the famous, generous institution, where unfor- 
tunate debtors formerly were confined and barred in with grated doors and iron 
bolts, deprived of liberty, and without tools, books, paper or pen, expected to pay 
their debts. It was a kind of ' Calcutta Black-Hole,' and the inmates having no 
yard-room, the prisoners frequented the top of the building for open-air exercise. 
Hera they might be seen every hour of the day. Generally discovering fires in the 
city, they gave the first alarm, by ringing the ' Jail-Bell.' This became a sure signal 
of a conflagration, and on this occasion they saved the legal pest-house from quick 
destruction. The Corporation rewarded the debtor who fortunately extinguished 
the threatened cupola. . 

If the building had been destroyed and its inmates only saved, there would not 
have been much public regret, for it had been a sort of ' Calcutta Black-Hole ' to 
American prisoners of war during the Revolution. After General Washington's 
success during 1777, in New Jersey, a portion of these poor prisoners were exchanged, 
but many of them, exhausted by their confinement, before reaching the vessels for 
embarkation home, fell dead in the streets. These are some of the historical reminis- 
cences of the ' Old Debtor's Prison,'- which so narrowly escaped burning in the great 
fire of May, 1811." 

Scarcely had the citizens of New York recovered from the disheart- 
ening effects of this fire, when, on the 20th of June, 1812, the news was 



192 

received in the city, of President Madison's declaration of war against 
Great Britain, issued a few days previous. A meeting was immediately 
called at noon of the same clay, in the Park, and at which the citizens 
pledged themselves to give the Government their undivided support. 

This resolution, in view of the severe blow which it was perceived 
would at once be given by the war to the prosperity of New York, was 
no slight proof of patriotism ; and many who at the beginning of the war 
were rich, found themselves, when the treaty of peace was signed on the 
24th of December, 1814, ruined. The condition in which New York was 
at the close of the war, as well as the extravagant demonstration of 
joy with which the news of the termination of hostilities was received, 
is thus graphically described by the late Prancis Wayland, who was In 
eye-witness of the scene : 

"It so chanced that at the close of the last war with Great Britain 
I was temporarily a resident of the City of New York. The prospects of 
the nation were shrouded in gloom. We had been, for two or three 
years, at war with the mightiest nation on earth, and as she had now 
concluded a peace with the continent of Europe, wo were obliged to copo 
with her single-handed. Our harbors were blockaded, communications 
coast- wise between our ports was cut off; our ships were rotting in every 
creek and cove where they could find a place of security ; our immense 
annual products were mouldering in our warehouses. The sources of 
profitable labor were dried up ; our currency was reduced to irredeemable 
paper ; the extreme portions of our country were becoming hostile to 
each other ; and differences of political opinion were embittering the 
peace of every household ; the credit of the Government was exhausted ; 
no ono could predict when the contest would terminate, or discern the 
means by which it could much longer be protracted. 

It happened that on a Sunday afternoon, in February, 1815, a ship 
was discerned in the offing, which was supposed to be a cartel, bringing 
home our Commissioners at Ghent, from their unsuccessful mission. The 
sun had set gloomily before any intelligence had reached the city. 
Expectation became painfully intense, as the hours of darkness drew on. 
At length, a boat reached the wharf, announcing the fact that a treaty of 
peace had been signed, and was waiting for nothing but the action of our 
Government to become a law. The men, on whose ears these words first 
fell, rushed in breathless haste into the city, to repeat them to their friends, 
shouting as they ran through the streets, 'Peace! Peace! PEACE! 1 
Every one who heard the sound repeated it. From house to house, 
from street to street, the news spread with electric rapidity. The 
whole city was in commotion. Men bearing lighted torches, were 
flying to and fro, shouting like madmen, ' Peace ! PEACE !' "When 
the rapture had partially subsided, ono idea occupied every mind. 
But few men slept that night. In groops they were gathered in the 



193 

streets, and by the fireside, beguiling the hours of midnight by reminding 
each other that the agony of war was over, and that a worn-out and dis- 
tracted country was about to enter again upon its wonted career of pros- 
peri ty. 1 ' 

In 1818, the Legislature of New York— De Witt Clinton, Governor — 
ordered the remains of General Montgomery to be removed from Canada 
to New York. This was in accordance with the wishes of the Continental 
Congress, which, in 1776, had voted the beautiful cenotaph to his memory 
that now stands in the front wall of St. Paul's Church, in Broadway. 
When the funeral cortege reached Whitehall, N. Y., the fleet stationed 
there received them with appropriate honors ; and on the 4th of July 
they arrived in Albany. After lying in state in that city over Sunday, 
the remains were taken to New York, and on Wednesday deposited, with 
military honors, in their final resting-place at St. Paul's. Governor 
Clinton, with the delicady for which he was always remarkable, had 
informed Mrs. Montgomery when the steamer Richmond, with the body 
of her husband, would pass her mansion on the North River. At her 
own request, she stood alone on the portico at the moment that the boat 
passed. It was now almost forty years since she had parted from her 
husband, and they had then been married only two years ; yet she had 
remained as faithful to the memory of her " soldier," as she always called 
him, as if alive. The steam-boat halted before the mansion ; the band 
played the "Dead March;" a salute was fired; and the ashes of the 
venerated hero and the departed husband passed on. The attendants of 
the Spartan widow now appeared, but, overcome by the tender emotions 
of the moment, she had swooned and fallen to the floor.* 

In the successive years of its existence, the City of New York had 
been visited by war, and fire, and famine, and now the scourge of pestilence 
was to be added. In 1819, the city was visited by yellow-fever, which 



* Janet Livingston, the sister of the distinguished Chancellor Livingston, the 
wife of General Richard Montgomery, met the latter when he was a Captain in the 
British Army and on the way to a distant frontier post. The meeting left mutual 
tender impressions. Returning to England soon after, Montgomery disposed of his 
commission, and, emigrating to New York, married the object of his attachment. 
But their visions of anticipated happiness upon a farm at Rhinebeck were soon 
ended. He was called upon to serve as one of the eight brigadier-generals in the 
Continental Army. He accepted sadly, declaring that " the will of an oppressed 
people, compelled to choose between liberty and slavery, must be obeyed." His 
excellent wife made no opposition, and, accompanying him as far as Saratoga, 
received his last assurance : " You shall never have cause to blush for your Mont- 
gomery." Nor did she ; for he fell bravely at Quebec. Having reduced St. Johns* 
Chambly, and Montreal, he effected a junction with Arnold before the walls of 
Quebec, where he was shot through both his thighs and head, while leading his 
men, on the 31st of December, 1775. In person, General Montgomery was tall> 
graceful, and of manly address. At the time of his death, he was only thirty-nine 
years of age. 

13 



194 

shortly disappeared, only, however, to return with increased violence in 
the fall of 1822. " As to the fever," writes Colonel W. L. Stone, at that 
time editor of the Commercial Advertiser, under date of October 10th, 1822, 
to a friend, " I cannot say that it is any better. In the contrary it rages 
sadly, and grows worse every hour. There are many sick and dying, 
especially in the lower parts of the city, who would not move, and the 
physicians will not visit them. I know several who have died without a 
physician. Old Mr. Taylor, for instance (Soap and Candles, Maiden 
Lane), would not move, and is now in his grave.' 1 Even the cold weather 
of 1822 and 1823 failed to check it, and the succeeding summer its 
ravages became so frightful, that all who could, fled the city. Business 
was entirely suspended, and the place presented the appearance literally 
of a deserted city — with no sounds except the rumbling of the hearses as , 
at the dead of night, they passed through the streets to collect the tribute 
of the grave. By the 2d of November, however, the fever had disap- 
peared ; the inhabitants again returned to their homes ; the banks and 
Custom-House which had been removed, during the fever, to Greenwich 
Village on the outskirts of the town, moved back to their customary 
places ; and business and social intercourse once more flowed in their 
accustomed channels. 

The two following years were to witness two august celebrations in 
New York. The first was in 1824, on the occasion of the visit of General 
Lafayette to America in his eighty-sixth year ; and the second was in 
honor of the completion of the Erie Canal, by which the waters of Lake 
Erie were connected with those of the Atlantic. 

It was most fitting that the city which had so nobly supported the 
enterprise from the beginning, should take the chief part in the ceremo- 
nies attending its realization. Probably no project of internal improve- 
ment ever met with such bitter and malignant opposition as that of the 
Erie Canal, and great as was the assistance given to the canal project by 
the Act of the New York Legislature of April, 1811, the obstacles in the 
way of its successful completion were by no means removed. The same 
incredulity as to the practicability of the canal, and the same apprehen- 
sions as to the capacity of the State, continued to raise a fierce opposition 
in the Legislature against any appropriations for carrying out the work 
which it had itself authorized. Many attempts were accordingly made 
to arrest, or at least curtail and arrest the project ; and often during the 
progress of the undertaking it seemed as if it would be utterly aban- 
doned. Party spirit at that time ran high, and the greatest effort on the 
part of its supporters was required to persuade the people of the State to 
give it their support at the polls. In accomplishing this result, the Com- 
mercial Advertiser, the oldest paper of New York City, gave powerful aid. 
That paper, which had always been the organ of the Federalists, became, 
upon Mr. Stone's assuming its management in 1820, a staunch advocate 



195 

of the Clintoniaiis. A strong personal friendship for Mr. Clinton on the 
part of its editor, together with a firm conviction of the necessity for a 
canal through the interior of New York State, led to the position thus 
assumed. The trials and rebuffs experienced by Governor Clinton and 
his supporters in pushing the canal project, and the energy which fought 
it through to a triumphant end, are matters of history. The Erie Canal 
was completed in the fall of 1825. At ten o'clock on the morning of the 
26th of October of the same year, the first canal-boat, the Seneca Chief, 
left Buffalo, having on board Governor Clinton, Joshua Foreman, and 
Colonel Stone, and the booming of cannon, placed at intervals of a few 
miles along the entire line of the canal from Buffalo to Albany, and thence 
along the banks of the Hudson to Sandy Hook, announced the successful 
termination of the enterprise. In New York City, especially, this event 
was celebrated by extraordinary civic and military ceremonies, and the 
citizens gave themselves up to the wildest demonstrations of joy. Nor 
was this joy ill-timed or excessive. " For a single State to achieve such 
a victory, not only over the doubts and fears of the wary, but over the 
obstacles of nature, causing miles of massive rocks at the mountain ridge 
yield to its power, turning the tide of error as well as that of the Tonne- 
wanda, piling up the waters of the mighty Niagara as well as those of 
the beautiful Hudson, in short, causing a navigable river to flow with 
gentle current down the steepy mount of Lockport, to leap the river of 
Genesee, to encircle the brow of Irondequoit as with the laurel's wreath, 
to march through the rich fields of Palmyra and of Lyons, to wend its 
way through the quicksands of the morass at the Cayuga, to pass 
unheeded the delicious licks at Onondaga, to smile through Oneida's 
verdant landscape, to hang upon the arm of the ancient Mohawk, and 
with her, after gaily stepping down the cadence of the Little Falls and 
the Cohoes, to rush to the embrace of the sparkling Hudson, and all in 
the space of eight short years, was the work of which the oldest and 
richest nations of Christendom might be proud."* Colonel Stone, as one 
of the most zealous champions of the canal, was appointed to write the 
Narrative of the Celebration, receiving a silver medal and box from 
the Common Council of New York City, together with the thanks of that 
body.f 



* Stone's Narrative. 

f Mr. Stone's narrative of the celebration was published by the Common Coun- 
cil under the title of the Grand Erie Canal Celebration, accompanied by a 
memoir of the great work by Cadwallader D. Colden : 

In connection with the Erie Canal and its influence in building up the interior 
towns of this State, Mr. Stone was wont to relate the following anecdote : In 1820 
be visited Syracuse with Joshua Foreman, the founder of that city and one of the 
earliest and most zealous friends of the Erie Canal. " I lodged for the night," says 
Mr. Stone, "at a miserable tavern, thronged by a company of salt-boilers fr -in 



196 

The land procession in the city on this occasion, while being very 
fine, was modeled after the procession in honor of the adoption of the 
Federal Constitution in 1788,* and does not present any very striking 
features. The naval procession, however, was so unique, and withal was 
projected and carried out on such a magnificent scale, that we quote the 
description from Stone's Narrative, a work that is now exceedingly rare 
and difficult to obtain : 

" At half-past eight o'clock, the Corporation and their invited guc sts 
assembled in the Sessions Room at the City Hall, and at a quarter before 
nine proceeded to the steam-boats Washington, Fulton, and Providence, 
stationed at the foot of Whitehall street. At the same place was also 
stationed the Commerce, Captain Seymour, with the elegant safety-barge? 
Lady Clinton. This barge, with the Lady Van Rensselaer, had been set 
apart by the Corporation for the reception of the invited ladies, with their 
attendants. The Lady Clinton was decorated with a degree of taste and 
elegance which was equally delightful and surprising. From stem to 
stern she was ornamented with evergreens hung in festoons and inter- 
twined with roses of various hues, China astres, and many other flowers 
alike beautiful. In one of the niches below the upper deck was the 
bust of Clinton, the brow being encircled with a wreath of laurel and 
roses. Mrs. Clinton, as well as many other distinguished ladies, was on 
board of the barge, which, though the party was select, was much 
crowded. Capt. Seymour, however, paid every attention to his beautiful 
charge ; every countenance beamed with satisfaction and every eye 
sparkled with delight. 

A few minutes after nine o'clock, the whole being on board, the 
fleet from Albany, as before mentioned, led by the flag-ship of the Admi- 
ral, came round from the North and proceeded up the East Eiver to the 
Navy Yard, where salutes were fired, and the sloop of war Cyane, was 
dressed in the colors of all nations. While here the flag-ship took on 
board the officers of that station, together with their fine band of music. 
The officers stationed at West Point, with the celebrated band from that 
place, having been received on board on the preceding evening, were like- 

Salina, forming a group of about as rough-looking specimens of humanity as I had 
ever seen. Their wild visages, beards thick and long, and matted hair, even now 
rise up in dark, distant, and picturesque effect before me. It was in October, and a 
flurry of snow during the night had rendered the morning aspect of the country 
more dreary than the evening before. The few houses, standing upon low and 
marshy ground, and surrounded by trees and tangled thickets, presented a very 
uninviting scene. ' Mr. Foreman,' said I, ' do you call this a milage ? It would make 
an owl weep to fly over it.' ' Never mind,' said he in reply, ' you will live to see it a 
city yet!'" Mr. Stone, did, indeed, live to see it a city, when he wrote the above in 
1840, with a Mayor and Aldermen, and a population of more than twelve thousand 

* See page 165. 



• 197 

wise on board of the Chancellor Livingston. On returning from the Navy 
Yard, the steam-boat Ousatonic, of Derby, joined the fleet. The wharves and 
shores of Brooklyn, the Heights, and the roofs of many of the buildings, 
were crowded with people to an extent little anticipated, and only exceeded 
by the thick masses of population which lined the shores of New York, 
as far as Corlaer's Hook. The fleet having arrived between the east end 
of the Battery and Governor's Island, was joined by the ship Hamlet, 
before mentioned. While the commander was signaling the various 
vessels, and they were maneuvering about to take their stations, the spec- 
tacle was beautiful beyond measure. Long before this time, however, 
our city had been pouring forth its thousands and tens of thousands ; 
Castle Garden, the Battery, and every avenue to the water, were thronged 
to a degree altogether beyond precedent. The ships and vessels in the 
harbor were filled, even to their rigging and tops. And the movements 
in forming the order of the aquatic procession, gave opportunity to all 
to observe the several vessels in every advantageous and imposing situa- 
tion. Loud cheers resounded from every direction, which were often 
returned. Everything being in readiness, and every boat crowded to the 
utmost, the fleet taking a semi-circular sweep toward Jersey City, and back 
obliquely in the direction of the lower point of Governor's Island, pro- 
ceeded down the bay in the order detailed in the official report of the 
Admiral, each boat and ship maintaining the distance of one hundred 
feet apart. 

The ship Hamlet was taken in tow by the Oliver Ellsworth and 
Bolivar, and assumed and maintained its place in splendid style. Four 
pilot-boats were also towed by other steam-boats, together with the fol- 
lowing boats of the "Whitehall Watermen, all tastefully decorated, viz. : 
The Lady of the Lake, Dispatch, LJxpress, Brandy wine, Sylph, Active, and 
Whitehall, Junior. 

The sea was tranquil and smooth as the summer lake ; and the mist 
which came on between seven and eight in the morning having partially 
floated away, the sun shone bright and beautiful as ever. As the boats 
passed the Battery they were saluted by the military, the revenue cutter, 
and the castle on Governor's Island ; ond on passing the Narrows, they 
were also saluted by Forts Lafayette and Tompkins. They then pro- 
ceeded to the United States schooner Porpoise, Captain Zantzinger, 
moored within Sandy Hook, at the point where the grand ceremony was 
to be performed. A deputation, composed of Aldermen King and 
Taylor, was then sent on board the steam-boat Chancellor Livingston, to 
accompany his Excellency, the Governor, the Lieutenant-Governor, and 
the several committees from Buffalo, Utica, Albany, and other places, on 
board the steam-boat Washington. 

The boats were thereupon formed in a circle around the schooner 
preparatory to the ceremony : when Mr. Ehind, addressing the Governor, 



198 

remarked ' that he had a request to make which he was confident it 
would afford his Excellency great pleasure to grant. He was desirous of 
preserving a portion of the water used on this memorable occasion, in 
order to send it to our distinguished friend and late illustrious visitor, Major- 
General Lafayette; and for that purpose Messrs, Dummer & Co. had pre- 
pared some bottles of American fabric for the occasion, and they were to 
be conveyed to the General in a box made by Mr. D. Phyfe from a log of 
cedar brought from Erie in the Seneca Chief.'' The Governor replied that 
a more pleasing task could not have been imposed upon him, and 
expressed his acknowledgments to Mr. Rhind for having suggested the 
measure. 

His Excellency, Governor Clinton, then proceeded to perform the 
ceremony of commingling the waters of the Lakes with the Ocean, by 
pouring a keg of that of Lake Erie into the Atlantic ; upon which he 
delivered the following address : 

' This solemnity, at this place, on the first arrival of vessels from 
Lake Erie, is intended to indicate and commemorate the navigable com- 
munication, which has been accomplished between our Mediterranean 
Seas and the Atlantic Ocean in about eight years, to the extent of more 
than four hundred and twenty-five miles, by the wisdom, public spirit, 
and energy of the people of the State of New York ; and may the God 
of the Heavens and the Earth smile most propitiously on this work, and 
render it subservient to the best interests of the human race.' 

Doctor Mitchill, whose extensive correspondence with almost every 
part of the world enables him to fill his cabinet with everything rare and 
curious, then completed the ceremony by pouring into the briny deep 
bottles of water from the Ganges and Indus of Asia ; the Nile and the 
Gambia of Africa ; the Thames, the Seine, the Rhine, and the Danube, 
of Europe ; the Mississippi and Columbia of North, and the Oronoko, 
La Plata, and Amazon, of South America. The learned doctor availed 
himself of this occasion to deliver the peculiar and interesting address 
which will be found in this collection, and which so happily illustrates 
the uses of types and symbols. The Honorable Cadwallader D. Colden 
then presented to the Mayor the able Memoir upon the subject of Canals 
and Inland Navigation in general, which forms the first part of the 
present volume. 

Never before was there such a fleet collected, and so superbly deco- 
rated ; and it is very possible that a display so grand, so beautiful, and 
we may even add, sublime, will never be witnessed again. We know of 
nothing with which it can be compared. The naval fete given by the 
Prince Regent of England, upon the Thames, during the visit of the 
Allied Sovereigns of Europe to London, after the dethronement of Napo- 
leon, has been spoken of as exceeding everything of the kind hitherto 
witnessed in Europe. But gentlemen who had an opportunity of wit- 
6 



199 

nessing both, have declared that the spectacle in the waters of New York 
so far transcended that in the metropolis of England, as scarcely to 
admit of a comparison. The day, as we have before remarked, was 
uncommonly fine. No winds agitated the surface of the mighty deep, 
and during the performance of the ceremonies, the boats with their gay 
decorations, lay motionless in beauty. The orb of day darted his genial 
rays upon the bosom of the waters, where they played as tranquilly as 
upon the natural mirror of a secluded lake. Indeed the elements seemed 
to repose, as if to gaze upon each other, and participate in the beauty 
and grandeur of the sublime spectacle. Every object appeared to pause 
as if to invite reflection and prepare the mind for deep impressions — 
impressions which, while we feel them stealing upon the soul, impart a 
consciousness of their durability. It was one of those few bright visions 
whose evanescent glory is allowed to light up the path of human life — 
which, as they are passing, we feel can never return, and which, in dif- 
fusing a sensation of pleasing melancholy, consecrates, as it were, all 
surrounding objects, even to the atmosphere we inhale ! 

While the fleet was here at anchor, a deputation from the members 
of the Assembly from different parts of the State, who were on board 
one of the steam-boats as guests of the Corporation, preceded by Clarkson 
Crolius, Esq., their Speaker, paid a visit to the Seneca Chief, to reciprocate 
congratulations with the Buffalo committee on the completion of the 
Grand Canal, to which the Legislature, of whom they were members, had 
made the last and finishing appropriation. 

Every thing being made ready for returning to the city, salutes were 
fired from the revenue cutter, the pilot-boats, several of the steam-boats, 
and from the " Young Lion of the West," who having prepared himself 
with a pair of brazen lungs at Rochester, often mingled his roar with 
that of the artillery with which he was saluted on his passage down. 
While passing up the Narrows the passengers on board of the different 
boats partook of elegant collations. The Corporation, with their guests, 
dined on board of the Washington, the Mayor presiding, assisted by 
Aldermen King and Taylor. 

When approaching the British armed vessels before mentioned, the 
latter fired another salute. In consequence of this comphment, a signal 
was immediately made from the flag-ship, and the whole squadron passed 
round them in a circle. The United States schooner Porpoise manned 
her yards and gave .the Britons three cheers, which were returned. 
While performing this circular maneuver, the British bands struck up 
' Yankee Doodle ;' in return for which act of courtesy the American bands 
as they passed the other side, successively played ' God save the King.' 
x\nother circumstance connected with these demonstrations of good feel- 
ing must not be omitted : On board of the Swallow an elegant breakfast 
was given in honor of the occasion, by her commander, Lieutenant 



200 

Baldock, to a numerous company of ladies and gentlemen, on which 
occasion was tastefully displayed a series of elegant and appropriate 
drawings, in water colors, representing Britannia, Columbia, the Eagle 
the Lion, and an English and American Sailor, Neptune, Liberty, and the 
flags and shields of both nations, all classically arranged, denoting good 
feeling, fellowship, and union of sentimer-t. There were also round one 
of the devices for a tower two designs of canal basins, with double locks 
— one as coming through Welch mountains, the other as through Amer- 
ican mountains of granite ; and on their basements were conspicuously 
inscribed, ' Clinton,' and ' Bridgewater,' in honor of men whose pursuits 
in each country were so similar. The whole was designed by J. R. 
Smith, and executed by him and an assistant. 

One reflection occurred to us when the fleet was below the Narrows, 
which, although it has no immediate relation to the time or the occasion, 
it may not be amiss to mention : When we viewed the number and ton- 
nage of the steam-boats employed, and the countless multitude of passen- 
gers borne upon their spacious decks, we could not but reflect upon the 
facilities of defense which, by means of steam navigation, our city would 
possess in the event of hostilities with any maritime power, and an 
attempt upon our lives and property from this direction. There were out 
upon this occasion, besides other craft of magnitude, no less than twenty- 
nine steam-boats, each capable of carrying from twelve to twenty-four 
guns, and from one to five hundred men. And from the readiness with 
which this force assembled, and from the rapid multiplication of vessels 
of this description with the increase of business in our metropolis, there 
is no doubt that even at the present momen i fifty boats, with ten thou- 
sand men and six or seven hundred guns, might be collected, prepared, 
and sent to repel an approaching naval armament, in one, or at most, 
two days. Neither winds nor tides could stay their progress, or control 
their movements. They could choose their own time, position, and points 
of attack; and tremendous must be the power that could successfully 
oppose and superhuman the skill that could baffle an expedition of this 
kind, directed by the hand of valor and sustained by the unconquerable 
spirit of freemen ! 

The head of the land procession, under Major-General Fleming, 
Marshal of the day, assisted by Colonels King and Jones, Major Low, 
and Mr. Van Winkle, had already arrived on the Battery, where it was 
designed the whole should pass in review before" the Corporation and 
their guests, and the spectators on board of the other boats, which lay to 
near the shore, to afford an opportunity of witnessing the cars, and banners, 
and other decorations of the several societies, professions, and callings, who 
had turned out in the city in honor of the event commemorated. The 
Washington and Chancellor Livingston ran into the Pier No. 1, in the East 
River, and landed the Corporation and their friends, at the proper time 



201 

for them to fall into the rear of the procession. The fleet then dispersed, 
each vessel repairing to its own moorings. 

****** 

Thus passed a day so glorious to the State and city, and so deeply 
interesting to the countless thousands who were permitted to behold and 
mingle in its exhibitions. We have before said that all attempts at des- 
cription must be utterly in vain. Others can comprehend the greatness 
of the occasion ; the Grand Canal is completed, and the waters of Lake 
Erie have been borne upon its surface, and mingled with the ocean. But 
it is only those who were present, and beheld the brilliant scenes of the 
day, that can form any adequate idea of their grandeur, and of the 
joyous feelings which pervaded all ranks of the community. Never 
before has been presented to the sight a fleet so beautiful as that which 
then graced our waters. The numerous array of steam-boats and barges 
proudly breasting the billows and dashing on their way regardless of 
opposing winds and tides ; the flags of all nations, and banners of every 
hue, streaming splendidly in the breeze ; the dense columns of black 
smoke ever and anon sent up from the boats, now partially obscuring the 
view, and now spreading widely over the sky and softening down the 
glare of light and color ; the roar of cannon from the various forts, 
accompanied by heavy volumes of white smoke, contrasting finely with 
the smoke from the steam-boats ; the crowds of happy beings who 
thronged the decks, and the voice of whose joy was mingled with the 
sound of music, and not unfrequently drowned by the hissing of the 
steam ; all these, and a thousand other circumstances, awakened an inter- 
est so intense, that ' the eye could not be satisfied with seeing nor the 
ear with hearing.' We rejoiced, and all who were there rejoiced ; 
although as we looked upon the countless throng, we could ' not but 
remember the exclamation of Xerxes, and feel that ' an hundred years 
hence, not one of all that vast multitude will be alive.' The splendor of 
beauty and the triumph of art, serve to excite, to dazzle, and often to 
improve the condition and promote the welfare of mankind; but the 
' fashion of this world passeth away ;' beauty and art, with all their 
triumphs and splendors, endure but for a season ; and earth itself, with 
all its lakes and oceans, is only as the small dust of the balance, in the 
sight of Him who dwells beyond the everlasting hills." 

That this joy was not ill-timed and excessive, the steady increase of 
the productiveness of the State affords conclusive proof. 

The following statistics have been kindly furnished me by my friend, 
the Hon. Nathaniel S. Benton, for many years an able Canal Auditor : 

The amount of tolls in 1823 was $199,655.08 ; in 1866, $3,966,522.52 ; 
and the total amount of tolls, from 1823 to 1866 inclusive, $90,153,279.19. 
The amount of tons going to tide-water is given in the report only as far 
back as 1836. In 1836, the number of tons going to tide-water over the 



202 

Canal was only 419,125; in 1866, 2,523,664, and the total amount 
between these two years inclusive was 52,761,967. It also appears that 
in 1837 the estimated value of all property transported on the Canal was 
$47,720,879 ; in 1865, $186,114,718; and between these years inclusive, 
$3,439,407,522. The amount of tons that came to this city in 1857, with- 
out breaking bulk, was 381,390 ; in 1866, 1,633,172; and between those 
years, 11,775,396. This ratio of increase seems to be broken in upon 
only in one particular, viz., in the amount of tons — the product of the 
State itself — arriving at tide-water. In 1836, this was 364,901 ; and in 
1865, 173,538. Here the previous rule is reversed, and instead of a gain 
there is a considerable falling off. This, however, is not to be attributed 
to a decrease in production, but in the fact that the channels by which 
produce is conveyed to the city are becoming more numerous each suc- 
ceeding year. This is evident, if the amount brought down by the 
Champlain Canal for 1866 (561,053) be added, which gives a total of 
734,591. And if to this could be added the amount of tons that now go 
by way of the Central and other rail-roads of the State, which otherwise 
would have gone by the Canal, the sum would be very greatly increased. 
Indeed, this element of transportation by rail must be taken into calcu- 
lation in forming a correct estimate of the importance of the Canal. It 
will be seen by the figures given above, that, with the exception just 
mentioned, the Canal shows a steady increase in its tolls and tonnage, 
notwithstanding the vast amount of freight yearly diverted from it by the 
rail-roads, and by vessels which now convey considerable freight from 
Buffalo direct to Europe, which formerly was brought to this city for 
shipment abroad. And to this must also be added the large amount of 
trade which has been directed by various channels into the Western States. 

Many who at the time regarded the supporters of the " Big Ditch " 
as enthusiastic and visionary, have lived to see their most sanguine pre- 
dictions more than realized. These figures, also, refute the opinion which 
one of our greatest statesmen, whose zeal for internal improvements could 
not be questioned, was known to have expressed, that this enterprise had 
been undertaken a hundred years too soon, and that, until the lapse of 
another century, the strength of our population and our resources would 
be inadequate to such a work. 

The report of the Auditor gives also the cost of the enlargement up 
to the close of 1866, viz., $33,080,613.80. The original cost was $7,143,- 
789.86 ; the total cost, therefore, up to the present time, is $40,224,403.66. 

Two years after the Erie Canal Celebration (in 1827), the Merchants) 
Exchange in Wall street, begun in 1825, was completed ; and in the 
same year. Masonic Hall, opposite the New York Hospital, the Arcade 
in Maiden Lane, and other buildings of more or less interest, were also 
erected. It has been the fashion of late years to speak of the changes 
that have taken place in New York City as of recent date. This, how- 



203 

ever, is a mistake. Modem New York begins in reality, about the year 
1820, at which time the "march of internal improvement" (so called' 
began to level the most interesting of our city landmarks. Indeed, as 
late as 1827, Exchange Place was Garden street, Beaver street was 
Exchange street, and Hanover street was unknown. Garden street, 
ending in what is now Hanover street, was connected with Exchange 
street, and Pearl street by Sloat Lane. This narrow lane was afterwards 
widened and extended through to Wall street, forming Hanover street. 
The triangular block, now bounded by Beaver, Pearl, and Hanover, was 
then bounded on the north by Exchange street, on the east by a private 
alley, connecting the east end of that street with Pearl at a point some 
fifty feet this side of the present junction, on the south by Pearl as now, 
and on the west by Sloat Lane. Beaver street was subsequently opened 
through on its present line, and the private alley was closed up and built 
upon. 

In 1829, an old resident of New York, returning to the city, after an 
absence of several years, was so struck with the changes which had taken 
place, both in the people and in the buildings, that he gave them to the 
public in two very interesting letters.* The reminiscences contained in 
them are of great value, as tending to preserve that which otherwise 
must have fallen into oblivion. New York has, it is true, reached a proud 
mercantile position ; but it must not be supposed that, on this account 
she has no traditions other than those associated with trade. To assume 
this would be as unjust as it is untrue. Many memories she has, both 
of a pleasant and a saddening nature. And while there are many, in 
this intensely practical age, who profess to sneer at everything in which 
they can " see no money," yet there are a few from whose hearts all 
sentiment has not been entirely crushed out. It is for the benefit of this 
latter class that we here reproduce a portion of the reminiscences just 
alluded to. The writer says : 

"New York is full of old reminiscences. Some are consecrated by 
religious feeling, and some by their connection with the political destinies 
of our country. My father used to show me, when a boy, the spot on 
the North River, just above the present Barclay Street Ferry, where, 
Jonathan Edwards, when temporary pastor of Wall Street Church, used 
to walk backward and forward on the solitary pebbly shore, sounding the 
depths of his own conscience, and drawing ' sweet consolation' from the 
religion which he taught. Here he ruminated on the mysteries of eternal 
preordination and free-will, while fell upon his ear the murmurs of that 
ocean which is the symbol of eternity and power, and whose motions are 
controlled, like the events of our own lives, by the word and will of the 
Most High. Then likewise he showed me the little church, back to the 

* Francis Herbert, in the Talisman for 1829—1830. 



204 

site of the present Methodist Chapel, in John street, where Whitfield, 
as my father expressed it, used to ' preach like a lion,' with a searching 
power that made the sinner quail, and shook and broke the infidel's 
stony heart. It was in Wall street that the apostolic Tennant lifted up 
his melodious voice, and sounded the silver trumpet of the Gospel. 
****** 

On the site of the present Custom House,* where the commerce 
of the world pays its tribute to the great treasury of the nation, stood the 
old City Hall, commanding a view of the wide and winding avenue of 
Broad street. Here, in a species of balcony, in the second story of the 
building, such as the Italians call a loggia, mean in its materials of wood 
and brick, but splendid in the taste and proportions given to it by the 
architect L'Enfant, the inauguration oath of the chief magistracy of the 
Union was administered, by Chancellor Livingston, to Washington, the 
first of our Presidents. In front of the building an innumerable and 
silent crowd of citizens, intently gazing on the august ceremony, thronged 
the spacious street in front, and filled Wall street from William street to 
Broadway. Behind the President elect stood a group of the illustrious 
fathers of the nation — Hamilton and Knox, and the elder Adams and the 
venerable and learned and eloquent Johnson, and Ellsworth and Sherman 
of Connecticut, and Clinton and Chief-Justice Morris and Duane of New 
York, and Boudinot of NeAV Jersey, and Rutledge of South Carolina, 
and less conspicuous in person, though among the foremost in fame, the 
Virginian, Madison. There, too, stood the most revered of the clergy of 
New York — the venerable Dr. Eodgers, of the Presbyterian Church ; 
the wise and mild and suasive Dr. Moore, of the Episcopal ; the dignified 
and eloquent Dr. Livingston, of the Dutch ; and the learned Dr. Kunze 
and the patriotic Dr. Grose, of the German churches. Back of these 
stood younger men, since scarcely less illustrious than the elder statesmen 
I have mentioned — Ames, and Cabot, and Gouverneur Morris, majestic 
and graceful in spite of his wooden leg. But why should I attempt to 
describe this great occasion by words ? I lately looked over the port- 
folio of my friend Dunlap, and found, among many other fine things, 
sketches which present this scene vividly to the eye, with the features 
of the great fmen who figured in it, and their costumes and attitudes, 
such as he himself beheld them. I wish somebody would employ him 
to paint a noble picture, such as he is capable of producing, on this 
magnificent subject. The pride of a New Yorker, the feelings of a 
patriot, the ambition of an artist, and the recollections of this interesting 
ceremony, which still live in his memory, would stimulate him to do it 
ample justice. 



* Now (1868) Sub-Treasury. 



205 

Cedar street, since that clay, has declined from its ancient conse- 
quence. I had the pleasure of seeing Mr. Jefferson in an old two-story 
house in that street, unbending himself in the society of the learned and 
polite from the labors of the bureau. And there was Talleyrand, whom 
I used to meet at the houses of General Hamilton and of Noah Webster, 
with his club-foot and passionless immoveable countenance, sarcastic and 
malicious even in his intercourse with children. He was disposed to 
amuse himself with gallantry, too ; but who does not know? — or rather, 
who ever did know Talleyrand ? About the same time I met with 
Priestley — grave and placid in his manners, with a slight difficulty of 
utterance — dry, polite, learned, and instructive in his conversation. At 
a period somewhat later, I saw here the deputy Billaud de Varennes, 
who had swayed the blood-thirsty mob of the Fauxbourg St. Antoine, 
turned the torrent of the multitude into the hall of the Legislative 
Assembly, and reanimated France to a bolder and more vigorous resist- 
ance against her foreign enemies. I visited him in the garret of a poor 
tavern in the upper part of William street, where he lived in obscurity. 
But why particularize further ? We have had savans, literateurs, and 
politicians by the score, all men of note, some good and some bad — and 
most of whom certainly thought that they attracted more attention than 
they did — Volney and Cobbett and Tom Moore, and the two Michaux, 
and the Abbe Correa, and Jeffrey, and others ; the muster-roll of whose 
names I might call over, if I had the memory of Baron Trenck, and my 
readers the taste of a catalogue-making librarian. Have we not jostled 
ex-kings and ex-empresses and ex-nobles in Broadway ; trod on the toes 
of exotic naturalists, Waterloo marshals, and great foreign academicians 
at the parties of young ladies ; and seen more heroes and generals all 
over town than would fill a new Iliad ? 

Pensive memory turns to other worthies, no less illustrious in their 
way. There was Billy the Fiddler and his wife, whom no one having 
seen, could ever forget, and no one who had music in his soul, remember, 
without regretting that such a fiddle should ever have been hanged up. 
Billy had been a favorite of Mozart, at Vienna, and used to say that he 
had composed one (I forget which) of his six celebrated sonatas ; though 
I believe he drew rather too long a bow when he made this 
statement.. He was about four feet six inches in height, with a 
foot as long as a fourth of his stature. His head was not 
disproportionate, as those of dwarfs usually are ; but he had 
their characteristic petulance ; and the irritability of his temper 
was certainly not improved by the enforced attendance of a retinue of 
idle boys, who always formed his suite when he walked forth in the 
streets. His wife was a suitable companion for him as to personal 
appearance and height; and it seemed, on looking at the couple, to be not 
at all wonderful how the Germans came by their »wild and droll concep- 



206 

tions of goblins arid elves. But I never beard of any otber magic prac- 
ticed by Billy, except tbat the sweet and enlivening strains of bis violin 
made tbe young masters and misses, at whose juvenile parties he 
officiated, dance off the soles of their shoes and stockings : and that they 
would have begun upon their tender skins, if they had not been discreetly 
carried home. 

There was also the family of the Hewletts, which, from tradition or 
observation, I may say I know for four generations, — cotemporaries of 
the successive Yestrises. Indeed, according to the family record, the 
first Hewlett was a pupil of tbe first Yestris, and a favorite disciple of 
that great master : who only complained that be was not sufficiently 
Uger in his accents, nor quite de phmb enough in bis descents : but certi- 
fied, that for grace, agility, and science, he was the prince of his eleves. 
The opinions of those, successively educated under tbe successive dy- 
nasties of these masters of aerial gymnastics, as fashion controlled both 
teachers and scholars, ' and as longer puffs and louder fiddles' 
brought other professors of the graces of motion forward, varied 
as to the distinctive characteristics of their several excellencies ; 
still the Hewletts kept tbeir ground. They out-lived tbe Eevolution of 
Seventy-Six : — Trinity Church was pulled down — the Governor's Court 
fled from the Battery ; but they kept the field, like the trumpeters of 
chivalry. They taught dancing to the belles, who captivated the Mem- 
bers of the first Congress ; and tried to teach some of the Members 
themselves. Then came the horrible French Eevolution ; and in that 
terrible storm which overthrew the landmarks of the old world, new 
manners and new teachers were drifted on our shores, and the Hewletts 
went out of vogue. There must be few who have dwelt in this now all- 
be-metamorpbosed city, even for six years last past, who have not had 
occasion to observe the dapper legs and silken hose of the last of this 
line. But they will be seen no more. David Hewlett is dead ! and as 
he trod lightly upon the earth, may the earth lie lightly on him. He 
was a gentleman, every inch of him. He was the last of the anti- 
Revolutionary dancing-masters; a kind, good, humble man. At St. 
Paul's I always found him, repeating the service with a formality, 
which was the result of decorous habit, and a fervor which could only 
have come warm from the heart. Again I say, light be the earth above 
him ! and he must have a stern, hard heart, who can scoff at my honest 
tribute to the memory of my old dancing-master. 

My reminiscences of New York, or rather the people tbat have been 
in it. come before my mind in pretty much the same order that 'jewels 
and shells, sea- weed and straw,' are raked by ' old father Time from 
the ocean of the past,' according to Milton or Bacon, or some other 
ancient writer of eminence. I had an uncle, who was a prudent 
man, in all his transactions : and who, from patriotic considerations, 



207 

waited lor the development of events, before he took any part in the 
Revolutionary War. He had many of what might be called Tory recollec- 
tions of that period. He knew the Duke of Clarence, when he came here 
as a midshipman ; skated with him on the Collect, where now stands 
the arsenal and the gas manufactory, and helped out of a hole in the ice 
him who is now official head of the English navy, and who may probably 
wield ere long the scepter of the British Empire. In walking along 
Broadway, he has often pointed out to me the small corner-room in the 
second story in the house in Wall street, opposite Grace Church, then 
and long after occupied by Dr. Tillary, a Scotchman (formerly a surgeon 
and afterward an eminent physician), and told me how he used, at the 
period referred to, to eat oysters there, in the American fashion, with his 
Royal Highness, who preferred them to the copper-flavored productions 
of the British Channel. 

Pine street is now full of blocks of tall, massive buildings, which 
overshadow the narrow passage between, and make it one of the 
gloomiest streets in New York. The very bricks there look of a darker 
hue than in any other part of the city ; the rays of the sun seem to come 
through a ^yellower and thicker atmosphere, and the shadows thrown 
there by moonlight seem of a blacker and more solid darkness than else- 
where. The sober occupations of the inhabitants also, who are learned 
members of the bar nearest Broadway, and calculating wholesale mer- 
chants as you approach the East River, inspire you with ideas of sedate- 
ness and gravity as you walk through it. It was not thus thirty or forty 
years ago. Shops were on each side of the way — low, cheerful-looking 
two-story buildings, of light-colored brick or wood, painted white or 
yellow, and which scarcely seemed a hindrance to the air and sunshine. 
Among these stood the shop of Auguste Louis de Singeron, celebrated 
for the neatness and quality of its confectionary and pastry, and for the 
singular manners of its keeper, who was at once the politest and most 
passionate of men. He was a French emigrant, a courtier and a war- 
rior, a man of diminutive size, but of a most chivalrous, courteous, and 
undaunted spirit. He might be about five feet two inches in height ; 
his broad shoulders overshadowed a pair of legs underthe common size, 
his fiery red hair was tied into a club behind, and combed fiercely up in 
front ; the upper part of his cheek-bones, the tip of his nose, and the 
peak of his chin, were tinged with a bright scarlet ; his voice was an 
exaggeration of the usual sharp tones of his nation, and his walk was 
that of a man who walks for a wager. He was the younger son of a 
noble family ; and having a commission in the French army, was one of 
the officers who defended the Tuillieries on the melancholy night of the 
10th of August, 1792, when the palace streamed with blood, and the 
devoted adherents of the King were bayoneted in the corridors, or 
escaped only to be proscribed and hunted down like wolves. Auguste de 



208 

Singerou made his way to L' Orient, took passage to the United States, 
and landed at New York without a penny in his pocket. His whole 
inventory consisted of a cocked hat, a rusty suit of black, a cane, a small 
sword, a white pocket-handkerchief and shirts, if I am justified in speak- 
ing of them in the plural, the exact number of which cannot now be 
known, as he never chose to reveal it, but looked as if they had never 
been brought acquainted with the nymphs of the fountains. He at first 
betook himself to the usual expedient of teaching French for a livelihood ; 
but it would not do. He lost all patience at correcting, for the twentieth 
time, the same blunder in the same pupil ; he showed no mercy to an 
indelicate coupling of different genders ; and fell upon a false tense with 
as much impetuosity as he had once rushed upon the battery of an 
enemy. But if he got into a passion suddenly, he got out of it as 
soon. His starts of irritation were succeeded by most vehement fits of 
politeness ; he poured forth apologies with so much volubility, and so 
many bows, and pressed his explanation with so much earnestness and 
vigor, and such unintelligible precipitation, that his pupils became giddy 
with the noise, and at the end of his lesson were more perplexed than 
ever. In short, to apply the boast of a celebrated modern instructor, his 
disciples were so well satisfied with their progress, that they declined 
taking lessons a second quarter, and the poor Frenchman was obliged 
to think of some other way of getting a living. But what should it 
be ? He had no capital and scarcely any friends. Should he become a 
barber, a shoe-black, a cook, a fencing-master, a dentist, or a dancing- 
master ? Either of these occupations was better than to beg, to starve, 
or to steal, and the French nobility have figured in them all. The flexi- 
bility of the national character adapts itself in mature age to any situation 
in life with the same ease that people of other nations accommodate 
themselves to that in which they were born. French marquises have 
sweltered in the kitchens of English private gentlemen, in greasy caps 
and aprons — French counts have given the polish to the nether extremities 
of the stately Dons of Madrid — and French dukes have taken German 
ones by the nose. The graceful courtiers, who led down the dance the 
high-born dames of France, have exhausted themselves in the vain effort 
to teach Yorkshiremen to shuffle cotillions ; the officers of his Most Chris- 
tian Majesty's household have drawn teeth for cockneys; and the chevaliers 
of the Order of St. Louis have given lessons in the use of the broadsword 
to men who afterward figured as Yankee corporals. In the midst of 
his perplexity, a mere accident determined the future career of Monsieur 
de Singeron : He had politely undertaken to assist in the manufacture of 
some molasses-candy for a little boy, the son of his host ; and, after a 
process attended with some vexations, during which the lad thought, two 
or three times, that his French acquaintance would swallow him alive, he 
produced the article in such delicious and melting perfection, that his 



209 

fame was quickly spread abroad among the boys of the neighborhood as 
an artist of incomparable merit. He took the hint, got his landlord to 
assist him with a small credit, turned pastry-cook and confectioner, set 
up at first in a small way, enlarged his business as he got customers, and 
finally took a handsome shop in the street I have mentioned. The French 
have as great a talent for comfits as for compliments ; and the genius that 
shines in the invention of an agreeable flattery, displays itself to no less 
advantage in the manufacture of a sugar-plum. Auguste Louis de 
Singeron was no vulgar imitator of his clumsy English and Dutch brethren 
in the art. I speak not of the splendor of his crystallizations, of the 
brilliant frost-work of his plum-cakes, nor of the tempting arrangement 
he knew how to give to his whole stock of wares, though these were admi- 
rable. But the gilt ginger-bread I used to buy of him, — instead of King 
Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, — was graced with the stately figures of 
Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, the Queen standing bolt upright — as 
became the conqueror of hearts and the mistress of the finest kingdom in 
the world — and the monarch holding her hand with a delicate inclination 
of his royal body, as if acknowledging the empire of beauty. He, I believe, 
first introduced the practice of stamping the New Year's cake with figures 
of Cupids among roses, and hearts transfixed by an arrow in honor of la 
belle passion. His marchpane bore an impress of the facade of the 
Tuilleries, with its pilasters, columns, and curvings ; and his blanc-mange 
was adorned with a bas-relief of warriors in bag- wigs and cocked hats, 
tilting fiercely at each other on its quivering and glancing surface. 

I shall never forget the courtly and high-bred civility with which M. 
de Singeron used to welcome me to his shop, and bow me out of it. I 
have since seen the nobles of the court of Marie Antoinette, and was no 
longer at a loss to account for the graceful manners of my old friend, the 
confectioner. It was not, however, quite safe to presume too much upon 
his forbearance, for he knew no medium between the most violent irrita- 
tion and the most florid politeness. He had no patience with these 
people who stood in his door on a keen windy day, and would neither 
come in nor go out. They always got from him a hearty curse in French, 
followed, as soon as he could recollect himself, by something civil in 
English. ' Peste soit de la bete ' — he used to say — 'fermez done la — I beg 
pardon, sare, but if you vill shut de door, you sail merit my eternel 
gratitude !' The fellows who went about the streets crying ' good 
oysters, 1 and ' fine Eockaway clams,' avoided his ill-omened door in the 
winter months, taught by bitter experience, and sundry ungracious and 
unexpected raps on the knuckles. He at first tried the plan of making 
them come in, shut the door, and deliver their errand, and then sending 
them about their business. This not succeeding, he tried the shining 
old lignum-vitaa cane, with which he used to promenade in the gardens 
of the Tuilleries, and with much better effect. On one occasion, however* 
14 



210 

lie happened to bestow it rather rudely upon the nasal organ of a sailor- 
The fellow's proboscis was originally of most unnatural and portentous 
dimensions ; it swelled terribly from the effect of the blow : and, meeting 
with a pettifogger, who told him it was a good case for damages, he 
brought an action against the confectioner. Monsieur de Singeron in 
vain offered an apology and a plaster of bank-notes ; the sailor was inex- 
orable, and insisted on producing his injured member before the seat of 
justice. He did so, but unluckily the effect ' on the jury was rather 
ludicrous than pathetic, and the impression it made was against the 
plaintiff, who got only ten shillings by his suit, M. de Singeron thought 
it was not enough, and gave the fellow a five-dollar note besides, which 
he had the meanness to accept, though I believe he blushed as he did It. 

Monsieur de Singeron afterward sold cakes and confectionary in 
William street and then in Broadway, and finally was one of that joyful 
troop of returning exiles that flocked back to France on the restoration 
of the Bourbons. He was provided for by being made a Colonel of 
Cuirassiers, and in the decline of his life his gallant and courteous spirit 
was no longer obliged to struggle with the hardships and scorns of 
poverty. I have lately heard, though indirectly, so that I cannot vouch 
for the fact, that he has been promoted to be one of the Marshals of 
France. 

There was another Frenchman of distinction, also of the old school of 
French manners, but less fortunate than Monsieur de Singeron, and who 
used daily to take his solitary walk through Broadway. I allude to 
Admiral Pierre de Landais. a cadet of the family of a younger son of the 
youngest branch of one of the oldest, proudest, and poorest families in 
Normandy. He had regularly studied in the Eeole de la marine, and was 
thoroughly instructed in the mathematical theories of sailing and building 
a ship, although, like the rest of his countrymen, he always found some 
unexpected difficulty in applying his theory to practice. For a Frenchman, 
however, he was a good sailor; but in consequence of his grandfather 
having exhausted his patrimony in a splendid exhibition of fire-works for 
the entertainment of Madame de Pompadour, he had neither interest at 
court nor money to purchase court favor. He was therefore kept in the 
situation of an aspirant or midshipman, until he was thirty-two years old, 
and was kept, I know not how many years more, in the humble rank of 
sous lieutenant. He served his country faithfully, and with great good 
will, until in the beginning of the reign of Louis XVI. a page of the 
mistress of the Count de Yergennes came down to Cherbourg to be his 
captain. While he was boiling with indignation at this affront, the war 
between England and America broke out, and he seized that opportunity 
to enter the service of the United States. There he at once rose to the 
command of a fine frigate, and the title of Admiral. Soon afterward 
came the brilliant affair of the Scrap is and the Bon Mom me Richard, in 



211 

which Paul Jones, by his impetuous and undisciplined gallantry, earned 
the reputation of a hero, and poor Landais, by a too scrupulous attention 
to the theory of naval science, incurred that of a coward. I believe that 
naval authority is against me ; but I venture to assert, meo pertculo, and 
on the authority of one of my uncles, who was in that action as a 
lieutenant to Paul Jones, that Landais erred, not! through any defect of 
bravery, but merely from his desire to approach his enemy scientifically 
by bearing down upon the hypothenuse of the precise right-angled 
triangle prescribed in the thirty-seventh ' manoeuvre ' of his old text-book. 

The naval committee of Congress unfortunately understood neither 
mathematics nor French ; they could not comprehend Landais' explana- 
tions, and he was thrown out of service. After his disgrace he constantly 
resided in the City of New York, except that he always made a biennial 
visit to the seat of government, whether at Philadelphia or at Washing- 
ton, to present a memorial respecting the injustice done him, and to claim 
restitution to his rank and the arrears of his pay. An unexpected 
dividend of prize-money, earned at the beginning of the Revolutionary 
War, and paid in 1790, gave him an annuity of one hundred and four 
dollars — or rather, as I think, a hundred and five — for I remember his 
telling me that he had two dollars a week on which to subsist, and an odd 
dollar for charity at the end of the year. 

Although Congress, under the new Constitution, continued as 
obdurate and as impenetrable to explanation as they were in the time of 
the confederation, the Admiral kept up to the last the habits and exterior 
of a gentleman. His linen, though not very fine, nor probably very 
whole, was always clean ; his coat threadbare, but scrupulously brushed, 
and for occasions of ceremonious visiting, he had a pair of paste knee- 
buckles and faded yellow silk stockings "with red clocks. He wore the 
American cockade to the last, and on the Fourth of July, the day of St. 
Louis, and the anniversary of the clay on which the British troops evacu- 
ated the City of New York, he periodically mounted his old Continental 
Navy uniform, although its big brass buttons had lost their splendor, and 
the skirts of the coat, which wrapped his shrunken person like a cloak, 
touched his heels in walking, while the sleeves, by some contradictory 
process, had receded several inches from the wrists. He subsisted with 
the utmost independence on his scanty income, refusing all presents, even 
the most trifling ; and when my naval uncle on one occasion sent him a 
dozen of Newark cider, as a small mark of his recollection of certain 
hospitalities at the Admiral's table when in command, while he himself 
was but a poor Lieutenant, Landais peremptorily refused them, as a 
present which he could not receive, because it was not in his power to 
reciprocate. 

He was a man of the most punctilious and chivalric honor, and at 
the same time full of that instinctive kindness of heart and that nice 



212 

sense of propriety, which shrinks from doing a rude thing to anybody on 
any occasion. Even when he met his bitterest enemy, as he did shortly 
after he came to New York, the man whose accusation had destroyed his 
reputation and blighted his prospects, whose injuries he had for years 
brooded over, and whom he had determined to insult and punish when- 
ever he fell in with him, he could not bring himself to offer him an insult 
unbecoming a gentleman, but deliberately spitting on the pavement, 
desired his adversary to consider that pavement as his own face, and to 
proceed accordingly. 

Thus, in proud, solitary, and honorable poverty, lived Pierre de 
Landais for some forty years, until, to use the language of his own 
epitaph, in the eighty-seventh year of his age, he ' disappeared ' from life. 
As he left no property behind him, and had no relations and scarcely any 
acquaintances in the country, it has always been a matter of mystery to 
me who erected his monument — a plain white mai'ble slab, which stands 
in the church-yard of St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York, and on which 
is read the following characteristic inscription : 



A LA MEMOIRE 

de 
PIERRE DE LANDAIS, 

ANCIEN CONTRE-AMIRAL, 

an si rvice 
DES ETATS-UNIS. 

Qui Dispa/rut 

Juin 181S, 
Age S7 wis. 

Who would suppose that the exploded science of alchemy had ever 
its professors in the United States, where the easy transmutation of the 
soil of the wilderness into rich possessions, renders unnecessary the art 
of converting dross into gold ? Yet such is the fact. Everybody who 
has been a frequent walker of Broadway, in any or all of the forty years 
preceding the last five, must recollect often meeting a man whom at first 
he might not have particularly noticed, but whose constant appearance in 
the same part of the street at the same hour of the day, and the pecu- 
liarities of whose dress and person must at length have compelled atten- 
tion. He was a plump-looking man, somewhat under the middle size, 
with well- spread shoulders, a large chest, a fair, fresh complexion, a 
clear but dreamy eye, and a short, quick stride, and had altogether the 
signs of that fullness of habit which arises from regular exercise and a 
good appetite, while a certain ascetic expression of countenance, at once 
forbade the idea that it owed anything to festivity or good cheer. His 



213 

age, which never appeared to vary, might, from his looks, be estimated 
at five years on the one side or other of fifty. His dress was that of an 
old-fashioned respectable citizen, educated before the age of suspenders, 
pantaloons, and boots, and who had never been persuaded to countenance 
those innovations of modern effeminacy. Notwithstanding its obsolete 
cut, it showed no signs of poverty, except perhaps to those, and those only 
who occasionally met him sweltering, with a laudable contempt for the 
weather, in a full suit of thick Prussian blue or Dutch black broadcloth 
in a hot August day ; or striding through a snow-storm in nankeen 
breeches and white cotton stockings in December. His name was Jan 
Max-Lichenstein ; he was a Pomeranian by birth, who early in life, going 
to Amsterdam to seek his fortune, became employed as a clerk in the 
great Dutch banking and commercial house of Hope & Co., where he 
proved himself a good accountant, and rendered himself useful in their 
German and Swedish correspondence. 

Afterward, by some accident or other, he found himself an adven- 
turer at St. Petersburg. What led him to that city, I cannot say ; I have 
never heard it accounted for among his acquaintances in this city ; at 
Amsterdam I forgot to inquire, and St. Petersburg I have never visited. 
But thither he went ; and having the good fortune to become known to 
Prince Potemkin, received an employment in his household, and finally 
-came to be intrusted with the management of his finances. The Prince 
as everybody knows, like many others who have millions to dispose of, 
had constantly occasion for millions more ; and, as everybody also ought 
to know who knows anything of his private history, when his funds were 
so reduced that he had nothing left but a few millions of acres and a few 
thousand serfs, took most furiously to gambling and alchemy. These 
liberal employments were divided between him and his treasurer ; the 
Prince rattled the dice-box in the gilded saloons of Tzarzko Zelo, and the 
Pomeranian, in spite of his remonstrances and his own better judgment 
was set to compounding the alkahest, or universal menstruum, in the 
vaults under the north wing of Potemkin's winter palace. We soon get 
attached to the studies in which we are obliged to employ ourselves, and 
Lichenstein gradually found his incredulity yielding, and a strange interest 
stealing over him, as he read the books and sweltered and watched over 
the operations of alchemy. The result was, that at length he became a 
believer in the mysteries of imbibition, solution, ablution, sublimation, 
cohabation, calcination, ceration, and fixation, and all the martyrizations 
of metals, with the sublime influences of the Trine Circle of the Seven 
Spheres. 

Lichenstein, however, with all his diligence and increase of faith, 
could neither coin gold nor get it out of the Prince's tenants in such 
quantities as it was wanted, and he was now destined to learn how much 
the favor of the great depends upon the state of their stomachs. One 



214 

morning Potemkin, after a run of bad luck, plenty of good champagne, a 
sleepless night, and an indigestible breakfast of raw turnips and quass, 
called upon him for an extraordinary sum, and not finding it easily fur- 
nished, flew into a passion and discharged him on the spot. As the 
Prince never paid any debts but those of honor, Lichenstein knew that it 
would be in vain to ask for his salary, and walked into the streets without 
a penny in his pocket. The late Chief-Justice Dana, of Massachusetts, 
then our Minister at the Court of St. Petersburg, was about to return to 
America. Lichenstein had heard the most flattering accounts of the 
prospects held out in the United States to active and intelligent adven- 
turers from the Old World, and readily believed all he heard, which, for 
a believer in alchemy, was no great stretch of credulity. He had some 
little acquaintance with the American Minister, in consequence of once or 
twice negotiating for him small bills on the bankers of the United States 
at Amsterdam. He threw himself upon his generosity, and requested a 
passage to this country — a favor which was as readily granted. Here he 
was fortunate enough, almost immediately on his arrival, to be employed 
in the first mercantile house in New York, to answer their Dutch, German, 
and northern correspondence, with a salary which, though not half so 
large as that allowed by Prince Potemkin, he liked twice as well, because 
it was regularly paid. He had scarcely become well settled in New York, 
when his old dream of alchemy returned upon him. He carefully hoarded 
his earnings until he was enabled to purchase, at a cheap rate, a small 
tenement in Wall street, where he erected a furnace with a triple chimney, 
and renewed his search of the arcanum magnum. Every day, in the morn- 
ing, he was occupied for two hours in the counting-room ; then he was 
seen walking in Broadway ; then he shut himself in his laboratory until 
the dusk of the evening, when he issued forth to resume his solitary walk. 
Year after year passed in this manner. Wall street, in the mean- 
time, was changing its inhabitants : its burghers gave way to banks and 
brokers ; the city extended its limits, and the streets became thronged 
with increasing multitudes — circumstances of which the alchemist took no 
note, except that he could not help observing that he was obliged to take 
a longer walk than formerly to get into the country, and that the rows 
of lamps on each side of Broadway seemed to have lengthened wonder- 
fully toward the north ; but whether this was owing to the advance of 
old age, which made his walk more fatiguing, or to some other unknown 
cause, was a problem which I believe he never fully solved to his own 
satisfaction. 

Still the secret of making gold seemed as distant as ever, until it 
presented itself to him in an unexpected shape. His lot in Wall street, 
which measured twenty-eight feet in front and eighty-seven in depth, and 
for which he had paid three hundred and fifty pounds New York cur- 
rency, had become a desirable site for a newly chartered banking com- 



215 

pany. One day Lichenstein was called by the president of this company 
from his furnace, as he was pouring rectified water on the salt of Mer- 
cury. He felt somewhat crusty at the interruption, as he hoped by 
reverberating the ingredients in an athanor, to set the liquor of Mars in 
circulation ; but when this person had opened to him his errand and 
offered him twenty-five thousand dollars for the purchase of his lot, his 
ill-humor was converted into surprise. Had he been offered five thousand, 
he would have accepted it immediately ; but twenty-five thousand ! the 
amount startled him. He took time to consider of the proposition, and 
the next morning was offered thirty thousand by a rival company. He 
must think of this also, and before night he sold to the first company for 
thirty-three thousand. He was now possessed of a competency ; he 
quitted his old vocation of clerk, abandoned his old walk in Broadway, 
and like Admiral Landais ' disappeared,' but not, I believe, like him to 
another life. I have heard that his furnace has again been seen smoking 
behind a comfortable German stone house in the comfortable borough of 
Easton — a residence which he chose, not merely on account of its cheap 
ness of living nor its picturesque situation, but chiefly, I believe, for its 
neighborhood to Bethlehem, where dwelt a Moravian friend of his, 
attached to the same mysterious studies, and for its nearness to the inex- 
haustible coal-mines of Lehigh. 

As I write, my recollections of the past, both ludicrous and melan- 
choly, crowd upon me. I might amuse my readers with a history of the 
' Doctors' Mob,' which happened some forty years ago, when the multi- 
tude, indignant with the physicians and surgeons for having, as was sup- 
posed, violated the repose of the dead, besieged them in their dwellings 
with an intention to inflict justice upon them according to their own sum- 
mary notions, obliging them to slip out at windows, creep behind beer- 
barrels, crawl up chimneys, and get beneath feather-beds, and when the 
grave gentlemen of the healing art were fed in dark places like hunted 
rebels or persecuted prophets, for three days and three nights. I might 
give my readers a peep into the little dark room in Pine street, where 
Brown used to frame his gloomy and interesting fictions without any aid 
from the picturesque, and entangle his heroes in one difficulty after 
another without knowing how he should extricate them. I might show 
residing in that part of Pearl street now enlarged into Hanover Square, 
but then a dark and narrow passage, the famous General Moreau, who, 
when told that the street was not fashionable, replied that he ' lived in 
de house and not in de street' — a conceited grammarian, talking absurdly 
of that science, and magnifying his supposed discovery of three thousand 
new adverbs, but otherwise gentlemanly, intelligent, and aggreeable, and 
fortunate in his beautiful and accomplished wife. While I spoke of great 
men, I might touch upon the tragic and untimely end of one of our 
greatest — Hamilton, brought over from the fatal spot where he fell to 



•216 

expire in the hospitable mansion of Mr. Bayard, on the green shore of the 
Hudson. I well recollect the day of his death, a fine day in July ; and 
the bright sunshine, the smiling beauty of the spot, the cheerful sound 
of birds and rustling boughs and the twinkling waters of the river, con- 
trasted strangely and unnaturally with the horror-struck countenances 
and death-like silence of the great multitude that gathered round the 
dwelling. I will not attempt to describe the scene. 

In this city especially, it is of more importance to preserve the recol- 
lection of these things, since here the progress of continual alteration is 
so rapid, that a few years effect what in Europe is the work of centuries, 
and sweep away both the memory and the external vestiges of the 
generation that precedes us. 

I was forcibly struck with this last reflection when not long since I 
took a walk with my friend, Mr. I)e Yiellecour, during his last visit to 
New York, over what I recollected as the play-ground of myself and my 
companions in the time of my boyhood, and what Mr. De Yiellecour 
remembered as the spot where his contemporaries at an early period used 
to shoot quails and woodcocks. We passed over a part of the city which 
in my time had been hills, hollows, marshes, and rivulets, without having 
observed anything to awaken in either of us a recollection of what the 
place was before the surface had been leveled and the houses erected ; 
until, arriving at the corner of Charlton and Yarick streets, we came to 
an edifice utterly dissimilar to anything around it. It was a wooden 
buildino- of massive architecture, with a lofty portico supported by Ionic 
columns, the front walls decorated with pilasters of the same order, and 
its whole appearance distinguished by that Palladian character of rich 
though sober ornament, which indicated that it had been built about the 
middle of the last century. We both stopped involuntarily and at the 
same moment before it. 

' If I did not see that house on a flat plain," said Mr. De Yiellecour, 
• penned in by this little gravelly court-yard, and surrounded by these 
st 'irveling catalpas and horse-chestnuts, I should say at once that it was a 
mansion which I very well remember, where in my youth I passed, many 
pleasant hours in the society of its hospitable owner, and where, after- 
ward, when I had the honor of representing my country in the Assembly, 
which then sat in New York, I had the pleasure of dining officially with 
Yice-President Adams. That house resembled this exactly, but then it 
•was upon a noble hill, several hundred feet in height, commanding a 
view of the river and of the Jersey shore. There was a fine, rich lawn 
aroind it, shaded by large and venerable oaks and lindens, and skirted 
on every side by a young but thrifty natural wood of an hundred acres 
or more.' 

Perceiving it to b a , a house of public entertainment, I proposed to 
Mr. Yiellecour that we should enter it. We went into a spacious hall. 



217 

with a small room on each side opening to more spacious apartments 
beyond. ' Yes,' said Mr. Viellecour, ' this is certainly the house I spoke 
of.' He immediately, with the air of a man accustomed to the building, 
opened a side-door on the right, and began to ascend a wide stair-case 
with a heavy mahogany railing. It conducted us to a large room on th e 
second story, with wide Venetian windows in front, and a door opening 
to a balcony under the portico. ' Yes,' said my friend, ' here was the 
dining-room. There, in the center of the table, sat Vice-President Adams 
in full dress, with his bag and solitaire, his hair frizzed out each side of 
his face, as you see it in Stuart's older pictures of him. On his right sat 
Baron Steuben, our royalist republican disciplinarian general. On his 
left was Mr. Jefferson, who had just returned from France, conspicuous 
in his red waistcoat and breeches, the fashion of Versailles. Opposite 
sat Mrs. Adams, with her cheerful, intelligent face. She was placed 
between the courtly Count Du Moustiers, the French Ambassador, in his 
red-heeled shoes and ear-rings, and the grave, polite, and formally bowing 
Mr. Van Birkel, the learned and able Envoy of Holland. There, too, was 
Chancellor Livingston, then still in the prime of life, so deaf as to make 
conversation with him difficult, yet so overflowing with wit, eloquence, and 
information, that while listening to him, the difficulty was forgotten. The 
rest were members of Congress and of our Legislature, some of them no 
inconsiderable men. 

' Being able to talk French — a rare accomplishment in America at that 
time — a place was assigned to me next the Count. The dinner was 
served up after the fashion of that day, abundant, and as was then 
thought, splendid. Du Moustiers, after taking a little soup, kept an 
empty plate before him, took now and then a crumb of bread into his 
mouth, and declined all the luxuries of the table that were pressed upon 
him, from the roast-beef down to the lobsters. We were all in perplexity 
to know how the Count could dine, when at length his own body-cook, 
in a clean, white linen cap, a clean, white tahlier before him, a brilliantly 
white damask serviette flung over his arm, and a warm pie of truffles and 
game in his hand, came brustling eagerly through the crowd of waiters, 
and placed it before the Count, who, reserving a moderate share to him- 
self, distributed the rest among his neighbors, of whom being one, I can 
attest to the truth of the story, and the excellence of the pate. But come, 
let us go and look at the fine view from the balcony.' 

My friend stepped out at the door and I followed him. The worthy 
old gentleman seemed much disappointed at finding the view he spoke of 
confined to the opposite side of Varick street, built up with two-story 
brick houses, while a half-a-dozen ragged boys were playing marbles on 
the sidewalks. ' Well,' said he, ' the view is gone, that is clear enough ; 
but I cannot, for my part, understand how the house has got so much 
lower than formerly. 1 



218 

I explained to my friend the- omnipotence of the Corporation, by 
which every high hill has been brought low, and every valley exalted, 
and by which I presumed this house had been abased to a level with its 
humbler neighbors, the hill on which it stood having been literally dug 
away from under it, and the house gently let down without disturbing its 
furniture, by the mechanical genius and dexterity of some of our eastern 
brethren. 

' This is wrong !' said the old gentleman ; ' these New Yorkers seem 
to take a pleasure in defacing the monuments of the good old times, and 
of depriving themselves of all venerable and patriotic associations. This 
house should have been continued in its old situation, on its own original 
and proper eminence, where its very aspect would have suggested its 
history. It was built upward of seventy years ago, by a gallant British 
officer, who had done good service to his native country and to this. 
Here Lord Amherst was entertained and held his headquarters, at the 
close of those successful American campaigns which, by the way} pre- 
vented half the State of New York from now being a part of Canada. 
Here were afterward successively the quarters of several of our American 
Generals in the beginning of the Revolution, and again after the evacuation 
of the city. Here John Adams lived as Vice-President during the time 
that Congress sat in New York ; and here Aaron Burr, during the whole 
of his Vice-Presidency, kept up an elegant hospitality, and filled the room 
in which we stand with a splendid library, equally indicative of his taste 
and scholarship. The last considerable man that lived here was Counsellor 
Benzon, afterward Governor of the Danish islands — a man who, like you, 
Mr. Herbert, had traveled in every part of the world, knew everything, 
and talked all languages. I recollect dining here in company with 
thirteen gentlemen, none of whom I ever saw before, but all pleasant 
fellows, all men of education and some note — the Counsellor, a Norwegian, 
I, the only American, the rest of every different nation in Europe, and 
no two of the same, and all of us talking bad French together. 

' There are few old houses,' continued Mr. De Viellecour, 'with the 
sight of which my youth was familiar, that I find here now. Two or 
three, however, I still recognize. One of these is the house built by my 
friend, Chief-Justice Jay, in the lower part of Broadway, and now 
occupied as a boarding-house. It is, as you know, a large square three- 
story house, of hewn stone, as substantially built within as without, 
durable, spacious, and commodious, and, like the principles of the builder, 
always useful and excellent, whether in or out of fashion.' 

' I believe he did not reside there long ?' said I. 

' No, he soon afterward removed into the house built by the State for 
the Governors, and then to Albany, so that I saw little of him in that 
house beyond a mere morning visit or two. No remaining object brings 
him to my mind so strongly as the square pew in Trinity Church, about 



219 

the center of the north side of the north aisle. It is now, like everything 
else in New York, changed. It is divided into several smaller pews, 
though still retaining, externally, its original form. That pew was the 
scene of his regular, sober, unostentatious devotion, and I never look at 
it without a feeling of veneration. But, Mr. Herbert, can you tell me 
what is become of the house of my other old friend, Governor George 
Clinton, at Greenwich ?' 

' It is still in existence,' I answered, ' although in very great danger 
of shortly being let down, like the one in which we now are.' 

' When I was in the Assembly, 1 pursued Mr. De Viellecour, ' the 
Governor used to date his messages at Greenwich, near New York. 
Now, I suppose, the mansion is no longer near, but in New York.' 

' Not quite,' I replied, ' but doubtless will be, next year. In the 
meantime, the house looks as it did.' 

'I remember it well — a long, low, venerable, irregular, white, cottage - 
like brick-and-wood building, pleasant, notwithstanding, with a number 
of small low rooms, and one very spacious parlor, delightfully situated on 
a steep bank, some fifty feet above the shore, on which the waves of the 
Hudson and the tides of the bay dashed and sported. There was a fine 
orchard, too, and a garden on the north ; but I suppose that if not gone, 
they are going, as they say in Pearl street.' 
' It is even so — were you often there ?' 

' Not often, but I had there, too, divers official dinners, and at one 
of them I recollect sitting next to old Melancthon Smith, a self-taught 
orator, the eloquent opposer of the adoption of the Federal Constitution, 
and the Patrick Henry of the New York Convention of 1788, who for 
weeks successfully resisted the powerful and discursive logic of Hamilton, 
and the splendid rhetoric of Robert P. Livingston. On my other side 
and nearer the Governor, sat Brissot de Warville, then on a visit to this 
country, whose history as a benevolent philosophic speculatist, an ardent 
though visionary republican, and one of the unfortunate leaders of the 
Gironde party in the French National Assembly, everybody knows.' 
' But you say nothing of the Governor himself ?' 
' Oh, surely you must have known him ! If you did not, Trumbull's 
full-length of him in the City Hall here, taken forty years ago, and 
Ceracchi's bust, of about the same date, will give you an excellent idea 
of his appearance.' 

' Oh, yes — his appearance was familiar to me, and I knew him per. 
sonally, too ; but when I was in his company I was too young to have 
much conversation with him, and afterward, when he was last Governor, 
and during his Vice-Presidency, I was, you know, out of the country.' 

' His conversation and manners in private corresponded exactly with 
his public character and his looks. His person and face had a general 
resemblance to those of "Washington ; but though always dignified, and 



220 

*in old age venerable, he had not that air of heroic elevation which threw 
such majesty around the Father of the Republic. There was a similar 
resemblance in mind. If he had the calm grandeur of Washington's 
intellect, he had the same plain, practical, sound, wholesome common- 
sense — the same unpretending but unerring sagacity as to men and 
measures, the same directness of purpose and firmness of decision. 
These qualities were exerted, as Governor during our Revolution, with 
such effect that the people never forgot it, and they witnessed their 
gratitude by confiding to him the government of this State for twenty-one 
years, and the second office in the Union for eight more. His behavior 
in society was plain but dignified, his conversation easy, shrewd, sensible, 
and commonly about matters of fact — the events of the Revolution, the . 
politics of the day, the useful arts, and agriculture. 

' Is Hamilton's house still standing ?' 

■ Not that in which he labored as Secretary of the Treasury to restore 
the ruined credit of the nation, and reduce our finances and revenue laws 
to order and uniformity — where he wrote the federalist, and those admi- 
rable reports which now form the most luminous commentary upon our 
Constitution. That was in Wall street ; it has been pulled down, and its 
site is occupied by the Mechanics' Bank. His last favorite residence was 
the Grange, his country-seat at Bloomingdale, which, when I last saw it, 
remained much as he left it.' 

Mr. Viellecour and myself ordered some refreshment, as a kind of 
apology for the freedoms we had taken with the old mansion. On leaving 
it, Ave walked down Greenwich street, moralizing, as we went, on the 
changes which time was working, so much more visibly in this little 
corner of the world than in any other part of it which I had seen — where 
the flight of years seemed swifter than elsewhere, and to bring with it 
more striking moral lessons. After an absence of thirty years from the 
great cities of Europe, I beheld, when I revisited them, the same aspect — 
venerable still, yet neither newer nor older than before — the same order 
of streets, the same public buildings, the same offices, hotels, and shops, 
the same names on the signs, and found my way through their intricacies 
as if I had left them but yesterday. Here, on the other hand, when I 
returned after an absence of two years, everything was strange, new, and 
perplexing, and I lost my way in streets which had been laid out since I 
left the city/ 

My companion often stopped to look at houses and sites of which he 
had some remembrance. ' There, 1 said he, pointing to a modest-looking 
two-story dwelling in one of the cross-streets — ' there died my good 
friend, Mons. Albert, a minister of our French Protestant Church about 
twenty years ago, a very learned and eloquent divine, and the most 
modest man I ever knew. He was a native of Lausanne, a nephew of 
D'Yverdun, the friend of Gibbon, who figures in the correspondence and 



221 

memoirs of the historian. Mons. Albert was much in the society of" 
Gibbon and has related to me many anecdotes of his literary habits and 
conversation.' 

' I must not suffer you to monopolize all the recollections of the 
city,' said I to my friend. ' Observe, if you please, that house on the 
corner opposite the one to which you have directed my attention. There 
lived, for a time, my old acquaintance Collies, a mathematician, a geog- 
rapher, and a mechanician of no mean note. He was a kind of living 
antithesis, and I have often thought that nature made him expressly to 
illustrate that figure of rhetoric. He was a man of the most diminutive 
frame and the most gigantic conceptions, the humblest demeanor and 
the boldest projects I ever knew. Forty years ago, his mind was teem- 
ing with plans of western canals, steam-boats, rail-roads, and other public 
enterprises, which in more fortunate and judicious hands have since 
proved fruitful of wealth to the community, and of merited honor to 
those who carried them through. Poor Collies had neither capital to 
undertake them himself, plausibility to recommend them to others, nor 
public character and station to give weight and authority to his opinions. 
So he schemed and toiled and calculated all his life, and died at eighty, 
without having gained either wealth for himself, or gratitude from the 
public. The marine telegraphs in this port are a monument of his 
ingenuity, for he was the first man of the country who established a reg- 
ular and intelligible system of ship signals.' 

My friend stopped at some of the shops to make inquiries concern- 
ing the ancient inmates. At length I heard him asking for Adonis. 
' Pray,' said I, ' who is this modern Adonis for whom you are inquiring ? 
Some smooth, rose-cheeked boy, doubtless, like him of Mount Libanus.' 

' This Adonis,' replied Mr. Viellecour, ' is neither a smooth nor 
rose-cheeked boy, being in fact a black old man, or rather gentleman, 
for a gentleman he is every inch of him, although a barber. I say is, 
for I hope he is still alive and well, although I have not seen him for 
some years. In this sneaking, fashion-conforming, selfish world, I hold 
in high honor any man who for the sake of any principle, important or 
trifling, right or wrong, so it be without personal interest, will for years 
submit to inconvenience or ridicule. Adonis submitted to both, and for 
principle's sake. 1 

' Principle's sake ! Upon what head '?' 

' Upon his own, sir, or upon Louis the Sixteenth's, just as you 
please. Adonis was an old French negro, whom the convulsions attend- 
ant in the West Indies upon the Prench revolution, threw upon our 
shores, and who held in the utmost horror all Jacobinical and republican 
abominations. He had an instinctive sagacity as to what was genteel and 
becoming in manners and behavior, as well as in the cut of a gentleman's 
hair, or the curl of a lady's. He had attended to the progress of the 



222 

French, revolution with, the greatest interest, and his feelings were excited 
to the highest pitch when he heard of the beheading of the French king 
and the banishment of the royal family. He then deliberately renounced 
the French nation and their canaille parvenu rulers, and in testimony of the 
sincerity of his indignation and grief, took oil' his hat and vowed never 
to put it on again until the Bourbons should be restored to the throne. 
This vow he faithfully kept. For twenty-one years, through all weather, 
did he walk the streets of New York bare-headed, carrying his hat under 
his arm with the air of a courtier, filled with combs, scissors, and other 
implements of his trade, until his hair, which was of the deepest black 
when he first took it off, had become as white as snow. For my part, I 
confess I never saw him on my occasional visits to the city, walking to 
the houses of his customers without his hat, but I felt inclined to take off 
my own to him. Like all the rest of the world, I took it for granted 
that the loyal old negro would never wear his hat again. At length, in 

the year 1814, the French armed schooner , with the white flag 

flying, arrived in the port of New York, bringing the first intelligence 
of the return of the Bourbons to their throne and kingdom. Adonis 
would not believe the report that flew like wild-fire about the city. He 
would not trust the translations from the French gazettes that were read 
to him in the American papers by his customers, but walked down to the 
battery with the same old hat under his arm which he had carried there 
for twenty years, saw the white flag with his own eyes, heard the news 
in French from the mouth of the cook on board the vessel, and then 
waving his hat three times in the air, gave three huzzas, and replaced it 
on his head with as much heart-felt pride as Louis the Eighteenth could 
have done his crown.' 

I could not help smiling at the earnest gravity of the old gentleman's 
eulogy upon Adonis. ' I fear,' said I, ' that your chivalric coffeur owes 
a little of his sentimental loyalty to your own admiration of everything 
generous and disinterested. When you are excited on this head, sir, you 
often remind me of what old Fuseli, in his energetic style, used to say 
of his great idol, Michael Angelo — ' All that he touched was indiscrimi- 
nately stamped with his own grandeur. A beggar rose from his hands 
the Patriarch of poverty ; the very hump of his dwarf is impressed with 
dignity. 1 I suspect you have been unconsciously playing the Michael 
Angelo in lighting up such a halo of consecrated glory round the bare 
and time-honored head of old Adonis. I am afraid I cannot do cpaite 
as much for another tonsorial artist of great celebrity who flourished 
here in our days, but whom, as at that time you were not much in the 
habit of coming to town, perhaps you do not remember. He made no 
claim to chivalry or romance — his sole ambition was to be witty and 
poetical ; and witty he certainly was, as well as the vehicle and conduit 
of innumerable good pleasantries of other people. I mean John Des- 
borus Huggins.' 



< Huggins— Huggins, 1 said Mr. De Viellecour. I knew a young 
lady of that name once ; she is now Mrs. , the fashionable mil- 
liner.' t 

' Oh, yes ; that incident of your life cannot easily lose its place in 
my memory. But John Desborus Huggins was no relation of hers. He 
was of pure English blood, and had no kindred on this side of the 
Atlantic. At the be . -inning of this century, and for a dozen years after, 
he was the most fashionable, as well as the most accomplished artist in 
this city for heads, male and female. He had a shop in Broadway, a 
low wooden building, where now towers a tall brick pile, opposite the 
City Hotel. This was literally the headquarters of fashion ; and fortune, 
as usual, followed in the train of fashion. But Huggins had a soul that 
scorned to confine its genius to the external decoration of his customers' 
heads. He panted after wider fame ; he had cut Washington Irving's 
hair; he had shaved Anacreon Moore, and Joel Barlow on his first 
return from France ; from them, when he was here, he caught the strong 
contagion of authorship. One day he Avrote a long advertisement, in 
which he ranged from his own shop in Broadway to high and bold satire 
upon those who held the helm of state at Washington, mimicked Jeffer- 
son's style, and cracked some good-humored jokes upon Giles and Ran- 
dolph. He carried it to the Evening Post. The editor, the late Mr. Cole- 
man, you know, was a man of taste as well as a keen politician. He 
pruned off Huggins' exuberances, corrected his English, threw in a few 
pungent sarcasms of his own, and printed it.' 

' It had forthwith a run through all the papers on the federal side of 
the question in the United States, and as many of the others as could 
relish a good joke, though at the expense of their own party. The name 
of Huggins became known from Georgia to Maine. Huggins tried a 
second advertisement of the same sort, a third, a fourth, with equal suc- 
cess. His fame as a wit was now established, business flowed in upon 
him in full and unebbing tide. Wits and would-be wits, fashionables and 
would-be fashionables, thronged his shop, strangers from north and from 
south had their heads cropped and their chins scraped by him for the 
sake of saying on their return home that they had seen Huggins, whilst 
during the party-giving season, he was under orders from the ladies every 
day and hour for three weeks ahead. But alas, unhappy man ! he had 
now a literary reputation to support, and his invention, lively and spark- 
ling as it had been at first, soon began to run dry. He was now obliged 
to tax his friends and patrons for literary assistance. Mr. Coleman was 
too deeply engaged in the daily discussion of grave topics to continue his 
help. In the kindness of my excellent friend, the late Anthony Bleecker, 
he found for a long time a never-failing resource. You were not much 
acquainted with Bleecker, I think, the most honorable, the most amiable, 
and the most modest of human beings. Eraught with talent, taste, and 



'224: 

literature, a wit and a poet, he rarely appeared in public as an author 
himself, while his careless generosity furnished the best part of their 
capital to dozens of literary adventurers, sometimes giving them style for 
their thoughts, and sometimes thoughts for their style. Bleecker was 
too kindly tempered for a partisan politician, and his contributions to 
Huggins were either good-natured pleasantries upon the fashions or 
frivolities of the day, or else classical imitations and spirited parodies in 
flowing and polished versification. Numerous other wits and witlings, 
when Bleecker grew tired of it, some of whom had neither his taste nor 
his nice sense of gentlemanly decorum, began to contribute, until at 
length Huggins found himself metamorphosed into the regular Pasquin 
of New York, on whom as on a mutilated old statue of that name at 
Rome, every wag stuck his anonymous epigram, joke, satire, or lampoon, 
whatever was unseeemly in his eyes or unsavory in his nostrils in this 
good city. I believe he was useful, however. If his humanities had not 
been too much neglected in his youth to allow him to quote Latin, he 
might have asked with Horace — Ridentem dicere verum — " 

' My dear sir," interrupted the old gentleman, ' if you will quote, 
and I see you are getting into one of your quoting moods, you had better 
quote old Kats, my maternal grandmother's favorite book, the great poet 
of Holland and common sense. He has said it better than Horace : 
' Haar lagehend coysheid laert, haar spelend vomit ter deuyd.' You 
ought always to quote old Kats, whenever you can, for I suspect that you 
and I and Judge Benson are the only natives south of the Highlands 
who can read him. But to return to your barber-author :' 

' Huggins became as fond and as proud of these contributions as if 
he had written them all himself, and at last collected them and printed 
them ^together in one goodly volume, entitled, Hugginianci; illustrated 
with designs by Jarvis, and wood-cuts by Anderson. He was now an 
author in all the forms. Luckless author ! His vaulting ambition over- 
leaped itself. He sent a copy of his book to the Edinburgh Review, then 
in the zenith of its glory, and the receipt was never acknowledged. He 
sent another copy to Dennie, whose Port Folio then guided the literary 
taste of this land, and Dennie noticed it only in a brief and cold 
paragraph. What was excellent in a newspaper jeu d'esprit, whilst 
events and allusions were fresh, lost of course much of its relish when 
served up cold, years after in a clumsy duodecimo. Besides, not having 
been able to prevail on himself to part with any thing which had once 
appeared under his name, much very inferior matter was suffered to 
overlay those sprightly articles which had first given him eclat. Then 
the town critics assailed him. and that ' most delicate monster,' the public 
who had laughed at every piece, good, bad, and indifferent, singly in 
succession, now that the whole was collected, became fastidious, and at 
the instigation of the critics aforesaid, pronounced the book to be ' low.' 



225 

Frightful sentence ! Huggins never held up his head after it. His 
razors and scissors lost their edge, his napkins and aprons their lustrous 
whiteness, and his conversation its soft spirit and vivacity. His affairs 
all went wrong thenceforward, and whatever might have been the 
immediate cause of his death, which took place a year or two after, the 
real and efficient reason was undoubtedly mortified literary pride. 
' Around his tomb,' as old Johnson says of Archbishop Laud — 

' Around his tomb, let arts and genius weep, 
But hear his death, ye blockheads, hear and sleep.' 

We had now got far down into the old part of the city, when, turn- 
ing up Vesey street from Greenwich, Mr. De Viellecour made a sudden 
pause. ' Ah,' said he, ' one more vestige of the past. There,' pointing 
to a common looking old house, ' there, in 1790, was the atelier of 
Ceracchi, when he was executing his fine busts of our great American 
statesmen.' 

' Indeed !' answered I — ' I have often thought of it as a singular 
piece of natural good fortune, that at a time when our native arts were 
at so low an ebb, we had such an artist thrown upon our shores to per- 
petuate the true and living likenesses of our revolutionary chiefs and 
sages. Ceracchi's busts of Washington, Jay, Alexander Hamilton, 
George Clinton, and others, are now as mere portraits above all price to 
this nation ; and they have besides a classic grace about them, which 
entitle the artist to no contemptible rank as a statuary.' 

' It was not a piece of mere good* fortune,' said my friend ; ■ we 
have to thank the artist himself for it. Ceracchi was a zealous repub- 
lican, and he came here full of enthusiasm, anxious to identify his own 
name in the arts somehow or other with our infant republic — and he has 
done it. He had a grand design of a national monument, which he used 
to show to his visitors, and which he wished Congress to employ him to 
execute in marble or bronze. Of course they did not do so, and, as it 
happened, he was much more usefully employed for the nation in model- 
ing the busts of our great men.' 

'He was an Italian — I believe a Roman — and had lived some time 
in England, where he was patronized by Reynolds. Sir Joshua (no 
mean proof of his talent) sat to him for a bust, and a fine one I am told 
it is. Ceracchi came to America enthusiastic for liberty, and he found 
nothing here to make him change his principles or feelings. But the 
nation was not ripe for statuary : a dozen busts exhausted the patronage 
of the country, and Congress was too busy with pounds, shillings, and 
pence, fixing the revenue laws, and funding the debt, to think of his 
grand allegorical monument. Ceracchi could not live upon liberty alone , 
much as he loved it, and when the French revolution took a very decided 
character, he went to France, and plunged into politics. Some years 
15 



226 

< 
after lie returned to Rome, where he was unfortunately killed in an 
insurrection or popular tumult, growing out of the universal revolu- 
tionary spirit of those times.' 

'May his remains rest in peace,' added I. 'Whatever higher 
works of art he may have left elsewhere — and he who could produce 
those fine classic, historical busts, was undoubtedly capable of greater 
things — whatever else he may have left in Europe, here h's will be an 
enduring name. As long as Americans shall hold in honored remem- 
brance the memory of their first and best patriots — as long as our sons 
shall look with reverent interest on their sculptured images, the name of 
Ceracchi will be cherished here : 

' And while along the stream of time, their name 
Expanded flies and gathers all its fame; 
Still shall his little bark attendant sail, 
Pursue the triumph and partake the gale.' 

We had now finished our long walk, and as the old gentleman was 
going into his lodgings, I took leave of him, saying, that our afternoon's 
walk had furnished me with the materials, and I was now going home to 
record our conversation as a chapter of ' Reminiscences of New York.' " 

In 1835, New York was visited by the most terrible conflagration she 
had ever experienced — an event which was so disastrous to the mercan- 
tde as well as to the private interests of the city that a full account of it 
in this connection may not be omitted. Mr. Disosway, who was present 
on the occasion, has kindly furnished us the following account of the 
conflagration itself and the losses entailed by it : 

fire of 1835. 

" The fearful night of December 1G, 1835, will long be remembered for the 
most terrible conflagration that has ever visited our great city. I then resided in 
that pleasant Quaker neighborhood, Vandewater street, and hearing an alarm of 
fire, hastened to the front door. I immediately discovered, from the direction of 
the flame and smoke that the fire was ' down town,' and not far off. Thousands 
of others besides myself dreaded such an alarm that night, as it was the coldest 
one we had had for thirty-six years. A gale of wind was also blowing. I put on 
an old, warm overcoat and an old hat for active service ' on my own hook.' Years 
afterward these articles, preserved as curiosities, bore marks of the heat., sparks, 
and exposure of that fearful time. Our own store, Disosway & Brothers, ISO Pearl 
street, near Maiden Lane, although fire-proof, naturally became the first object of 
my attention. This was providentially located several blocks above the fire, and, 
accordingly, having lighted the gas and leaving the clerks to watch, I hastened to 
the building that was on fire. 

This was the store of Comstock & Andrews, well-known fancy dry-goods 
jobbers, at the corner of Pearl and Merchant streets, a narrow, new lane a little 
below Wall street. When I entered the building on the lower floor the fire had 
commenced in the counting-room, having caught, as it was believed, from the stove- 
pipe. Those few of us present had time to remove a considerable quantity of light 



227 

fancy silk articles. The goods, however, were of a very inflammable nature, and a 
strong current of air sweeping through the adjoining lane, we were soon compelled 
to leave the balance of this large and valuable stock to destruction. Here, and in 
this manner, the great fire of 1685 originated. 

In a short time this tall and large brick store was enveloped in flames, which 
burst from the doors and windows on both streets. Over half an hour had elapsed 
before the first engine had arrived, and attempted to throw a stream upon the oppo- 
site stores of Pearl street, against which the gale was driving the rapidly increasing 
heat and embers. But so furious were both, that the boldest firemen retreated for their 
lives and the safety of their machine. The street at this point is very narrow, and 
prevented any man from reaching the lower or adjacent part of Peaid from this end. 
A burning wall of fire now intervened, and increased every moment. The way to 
the alarming scene was through William and Water streets and Old Slip. After 
a little while that which was universally dreaded, happened — the water in the 
hydrants froze and prevented the engine from obtaining any further supply. Hav- 
ing drawn the ' machine' to a safe place, the firemen nobly went to work, saving 
property. It was all they possibly could do. The reader must remember that the 
thermometer had now fallen below zero, which, added to a biting, fierce winter wind, 
paralyzed the exertions of both firemen and citizens. All ordinary means for stop- 
ping the rapidly increasing flames were, abandoned, and the efforts of all were 
directed to the removal of the contents of the buildings to places beyond the sup- 
posed reach of destruction. In this way immense quantities of goods were placed 
in the large Merchants' Exchange on Wall street, in Old Slip, Hanover Square, 
and the Garden Street Dutch Church and its adjoining grave-yard. In a few hours, 
however, the devouring element, reaching these areas and splendid edifices, 
swept everything away as with the ' besom of destruction.' Millions of dollars 
were consumed in a very short time. 

I am writing my own reminiscences of that awful night, and not the expe- 
riences of another, and must be excused if I often use the personal pronoun. By mid- 
nigh*: it was evident thatno earthly power could stay the then Etna-like rapid progress 
of the raging torrent, which increased every moment most alarmingly, and spread 
in every direction, except toward the east. Most fortunately it did not cross Wall, 
that street having become an impassable barrier, else the eastern and upper sections 
of the city might have shared the same fata as the lower. Who can tell where the 
calamity would have paused, for there were immense blocks of wooden buildings 
on Water and Cherry and Pearl streets, ' up' town more than ' down,' and inflam- 
mable magazines which, once fired, could extend the common destruction over 
the city. 

My own course that night was to obtain voluntary aid, and entering the stores 
of personal friends remove if possible books and papors. Such was absolutely the 
heat in front of some stores on the south side of Pearl, near Wall street, that 
although they were not yet on fire, it was impossible to force an entrance that way, 
and we were obliged to effect it from Water street, as those buildings extended 
through the block. A panel in the rear door was broken out, and entering 
through this with lanterns, we reached the counting-room, and then collecting the 
books and invoices placed them in a hand-cart and sent them away. It is impossible 
to imagine the fervent heat created by the increasing flames. Many of the stores were 
new, with iron shutters, doors, and copper roofs and gutters, 'fire-proof of first- 
class, and I carefully watched the beginning and the progress of their destruction. 
The heat alone, at times, melted the copper roofing, and the burning liquid ran off 
in great drops ; at one store, near Arthur Tappan & Co.'s, I warned some firemen 
of their danger from this unexpeated source. Along here the buildings were of 



228 

the first-class, and one after another ignited under the roof, from the next edifice, 
downward, from floor after floor went the devouring element. As the different 
stories caught, the iron-closed shutters shone with glowing redness, until at last, 
forced open by the uncontrollable enemy within, they presented the appearance of 
immense iron furnaces in full blast. The tin and copper bound roofs often seemed 
struggling to maintain their fast hold, gently rising and falling and moving - , until 
their rafters giving way, they mingled in the blazing crater below of goods, beams> 
floors, and walls. 

On the north side of Hanover Square stood the fine store-house of Peter Remsen 
& Company, one of the largest East India firms, with a valuable stock. Here we 
assisted, and many light bales of goods were thrown from the upper windows, 
together with a large amount of other merchandise, all heaped in the midst of the 
Square, then thought to be a perfectly secure place. Vain calculation ! Both sides 
of Pearl street were soon in the furious blaze, and the ground became covered with 
living cinders. This whole pile dissolved and mingled in the common and increas- 
ing ruin. Water street, too, was on fire, and we hastened to the old firm of S. B. 
Harper & Sons, grocers, on Front, opposite Gouverneur Lane, where there appeared 
to be no immediate danger. 

The father and sons had arrived, and we succeeded in removing their valuables. 
As we left the store after the last load, a terrible explosion occurred near by with 
the noise of a cannon. The earth shook. We ran for safety, not knowing what 
might follow, and took refuge on the corner of Gouverneur Lane, nearly oppo-ite. 
Waiting for a few minutes, a second explosion took place, then another and another. 
During the space, perhaps, of half an hour, shock after shock followed in rapid suc- 
cession, accompanied with the darkest, thickest clouds of smoke imaginable. The 
explosions came from a store on Front street, near Old Slip, where large quantities 
of saltpeter in bags had been stored. Suddenly the whole ignited, and out leaped 
the flaming streams of these neutral salts in their own peculiar colors, from every 
door and window. Some might have called them fireworks. We have never forgot- 
ten this saltpeter eruption or explosion, and never doubted since the explosive 
character of the article. 

About midnight, the onward march of the uncontrolled riotous flames had 
reached the East River, and could go no further beyond that impassable barrier. 
Before this, the crowded shipping had fortunately sufficient time to be removed 
from the docks and slips. One of the most grand and frightful scenes of the whole 
night was the burning of a large oil store at the corner of Old Slip and South street- 
It was four or more stories high, and filled with windows on both sides without any 
shutters. This was before the days of petroleum and kerosene, and the building was 
full of sperm and other oils. These fired hogshead after hogshead, and over the 
spacious edifice resembled a vast bonfire or giant beacon, casting its bright beams 
far and wide on the river and surrounding region, but finally the confined inflam- 
mable mass, from eaves to cellar, shot out with tremendous force through every 
window and opening, and soon all disappeared except the cracked, tottering-, and 
falling walls. 

The blazing flying timbers were carried across the East River, and in one 
instance set fire to the roof of a house in Brooklyn, which, however, was quickly 
extinguished. Large quantities of tar and turpentine on the wharves becoming 
ignited, ran down blazing into the stream, and floating off, made a sort of burning 
sea, many square yards in extent. The conflagration increasing every moment, 
also extended inward toward Broadway. Great hopes were indulged that the 
Merchants' marble Exchange (in which, since 1827, the Post-Ofnce had been located) 
would escape. In the vast rotunda of the edifice stood a most beautiful white 



229 

marble statue of Alexander Hamilton. Accordingly, a great anxiety was manifested 
to save this image of the great statesman. It was a masterpiece of art, and hund- 
reds of willing- hands, including those of a large number of sailors, undertook its 
removal, but to no purpose, and the finely chiseled marble, with the solid granite of 
the Exchange, before long mingled together in common ruin. The letters of the 
Post-Office were alone saved. 

There was evidently now no salvation for those fine new stores on William 
street near by, and in Exchange Place, where the auctioneers and other commission 
Houses had located. I sought the premises of Burns, Halliburton ifc Company, one 
of the most popular firms of that day. They were the agents of the Merrimack and 
other works, and had an immense valuable stock of calicos, muslin, and flannels. 
Their large store extended from William street to the grave-yard of the Garden 
Street Church. Most of the stock was easily removed to this jdace of imagined 
security, which, indeed, became the depot, for the time being - , for millions of mer- 
chandise We soon cleared this store. The firm were agents also for extra flannels. 
These, packed in small bales and light, were readily cast from the upper stories into 
the grave-yard: In one of the upper lofts I met a member of the firm, Mr. B., one 
of Nature's noblemen, since dead, with his other partners, and he was weeping. 
' Too hard,' said he, ' after all the toil of years, to see pi - operty thus suddenly 
destroyed !' ' Cheer up,' we replied, ' the world is still wide enough for success 
and fortune,' and so it proved to him and many other sufferers. 

This row of line new stores had very flat roofs, and, imagining that a good view 
of the whole conflagration could be obtained from the top, we soon found our way 
thire. Home friends in the yard, fearing that we had been locked up and in danger, 
screamed like wild Indians, pointing out a way of escape. But there was no danger, 
and what a sight now presented itself. From Maiden Lane to Coenties Slip and 
from William street to the East River, the whole immense area, embracing some thir- 
teen acres, all in a raging, uncontrollable blaze ! To what can we compare it ? An 
ocean of tire, as it were, with roaring, rolling, burning waves, surging onward and 
upward, and spreading certain universal destruction, tottering walls and falling 
chimneys, with black smoke, hissing, crashing sounds on every side. Something like 
this, for we cannot describe it, was the fearful prospect, and soon satisfied with the 
alarming, fearful view, we retreated from our high look-out. The light had spread 
more and more vividly from the fiery arena, rendering every object, far and wide, 
minutely discernible, the lower bay and its islands, with the shores of Long Island 
and New Jersey. Even from Staten Island the conflagration was very plainly seen. 
A sea on fire is perhaps the best similitude I can fancy to describe this grand and 
awful midnight winter scene. 

Not long after we left our high stand-point it was enveloped in the universal 
blaze, and soon the Garden Street Church, with the spire, organ, and heaps of 
goods stored within and outside, were consumed. There too was lost the venerable 
bell which had been removed at an early period in New York history from the old 
St. Nicholas Church, within the present Battery. ' What more can be done to stop 
the progress of the flames ?' became the anxious and general inquiry. Mr. Cornelius 
W. Lawrence, the Mayor, appeared with his officers, and after consultation, it was 
determined ' to blow up' some buildings, and the east corner of Coenties Slip and 
Coenties Lane (a narrow street), was selected as the proper place to begin the neces- 
sary work. On the opposite side was the store of William Van Antwerp & Co., 
hardware dealers and relatives of the writer, who, engaged at this point in saving 
goods, could see the necessary preparations for the blast. The building to be ' blown 
up,' I think, was occupied by Wyncoop & Co., grocers. It was large, and of brick. 
Colonel Smith soon arrived with the powder and a gang- of officers and sailors from 



230 

the Navy Yard ; and none else were permitted to interfere. They commenced 
mining in the cellar, and placing heavy timbers upon the powder kegs and against 
the beams of the floors, everything was soon ready for the explosion. A friend near 

by, said to an old tar, ' Be careful or you will be blown up!' ' Blow and be '.' 

was the careless and characteristic reply to the warning. But all having been 
admirably and safely arranged, the crowd retreated. The touch was applied, and 
in an instant the report followed ; then the immense mass heaved up as if by magic, 
and losing its fasteni) i gs, from the cellar to the roof, tottered, shook, and fell. A 
shout went up from the gazing spectators ; and at this point the common danger 
was evidently arrested, thanks to Colonel Swift, Lieutenant Reynolds, and Captain 
Mix of the Navy, and their noble, brave sailors. Heroism can be as much displayed 
at a terrible catastrophe of this kind, as on the bloody field of battle, and it was 
to-night. This party of miners arrived about two o'clock in the morning, when 
their important work commenced. They continued it successfully in another direc- 
tion ; indeed, it was believed that the conflagration was at last checked by this blow- 
ing up of the buildings. 

Wearied with watching, labor, and anxiety, thousands wished for the return of 
day, and at length a dim increasing light in the east, but enshrouded with dull, 
heavy clouds of smoke foretold the coming morning. And what an unexpected 
melancholy spectacle to thousands did New York present ! The generous firemen 
from Philadelphia soon after made their appearance ; but the fire had been checked. 
The immense remains continued to blaze and burn for many days. We could now 
travel around the bounds of the night's destruction, but no living being could 
venture through them. In many places there were no lines of the streets to be dis- 
covered at all, as every foot of ground was covered with the heated bricks, timbers, 
and rubbish of the destroyed buildings. 

Many a merchant living in the upper section of the city went quietly to bed 
that night, and strange as it may seem, when he came down town the next morning 
literally could not find his store nor enough of his stock remaining to cover his hand 
— every yard, ell, pound gone ! There were official statements of several stores in 
each of which a quarter of a million of dollars in goods was consumed, with books, 
notes and accounts. New York the next day sat, as it were, in sackcloth and ashes, 
and real sorrow began to appear on men's faces as the losses and ruin were discovered 
by the light of day. To increase, also, the public calamity, the insurance companies, 
except the JEtna, of Hartford, and the Chatham, had all become bankrupt from their 
severe losses, and could not pay. Universal gloom prevailed, but not despondency. 

There was great anxiety expressed for the preservation of the Merchants, 
Exchange on Wall street, and a large crowd assembled in front to watch the noble 
edifice, now in imminent danger. We have stated that the letters of the Post-Office^ 
then in its basement, were saved, and the marble statue of Hamilton, placed 
beneath the rotunda, was lost. But now the fire-fiend had reached the solid struc- 
ture, and all hopes of saving it were abandoned. The public gaze evidently centered 
most upon its cupola. Higher and higher the flames reached, and after a brief con- 
flict the roof fell. A short silence ensued in the almost breathless crowd, but what 
a strange thing is ever a mob ? Next went up — shall we call it a fiendish shout, as 
a friend standing by did at the time ? Then came another pause, the lofty, shooting 
fires lighting up the faces of surrounding crowds. At this moment a man was seen 
hurrying along, crying out at the top of his voice, ' Is there a surgeon among you, 
o-entlemen ? for Cod's sake is there a surgeon ?' The report soon spread that 
hundreds were in the Exchange at the moment its cupola fell, and those dragged 
out of the ruins needed a surgeon's care. Pi ovidentially this was not the case, and 



231 

that which was still more wonderful and striking, no fatal or serious accident 
occurred during the whole of this awful December calamity. 

During the conflagration, then under full headway toward Broad street, the 
presence of mind of one man saved much property. This was Downing, the oyster 
king, of Broad street fame. Water was out of the question, and at this emergency 
he thought of his supplies of vinegar, which were large, and with careful applica- 
tion by pail-full after pail-full, a large amount of property was saved in that direc- 
tion from the general destruction. To his good sense, and credit, and worthy 
memory, we record this generous act. 

"We forgot to mention one circumstance connected with the destruction of the 
Garden Street Church, and have been reminded of it by a friend, who was among the 
very last persons to leave the sacred edifice. Many, many a solemn dirge had been 
played upon that fine organ at the burial of the dead, and now, the holy temple on 
fire, some one commenced performing upon it its own funeral dirge, and continued 
it until the lofty ceiling was in a blaze — the music ceased, and in a short time the 
beautiful edifice, with its noble instrument and immense quantities of goods stored 
inside and out, were all irrecoverably gone, nothing escaping save the long-sleeping 
dust and bones of the buried dead. 

I forgot also to mention in its proper place some items about the old ' Tontine 
Coffee-House.' This was the 'Exchange ' of the city. The old folks may remember 
its rough but pleasant keeper, old Buyden. We only have heard of his fame, and it 
is related of him, that when, the first anthracite coal was offered for sale in New 
York, he tried it in the hall of the Tontine ; but he pronounced the new article 
worse than nothing, for he had put one scuttle into the grate, and then another, and 
after they were consumed he took up two scuttles full of stones ! 

In the great fire of 1835, this well-known public edifice came very near sharing 
the common destruction. The engines had almost entirely ceased working, and the 
Tontine was discovered to be on fire in its broad cornices, at the corner of Wall and 
Water streets. This created still greater alarm, for the burning of this large build- 
ing would destroy the hopes of saving the eastern section of the city if not more. 
Two solitary engines, with what little water they managed to obtain, were throwing 
their feeble and useless streams upon the flaming stores opposite, when Mr. Oliver 
Hull, of our city, calling their attention to the burning cornice, generously promised 
to denote one hundred dollars to the Firemen's Fund ' if they would extinguish that 
blaze.' Seeing the threatening danger, they immediately made a pile of boxes which 
had been removed from the adjacent stores, from the top of which, by great efforts, a 
stream reached the spot and quickly put out the alarming flame. Mr. Hull is still 
living, and thanks to him for his wise counsel and generosity at that trying moment, 
and gratitude to the noble firemen who so successfully averted the awful progress of 
the destroying element from crossing Wall street and ending, who can tell where ? 
They were frequently told of the vital importance of preventing the conflagration 
extending beyond this limit, and labored accordingly, and with the happiest 
results. 

As already stated, no lives were lost during the conflagration ; still we remember 
that shortly afterward, one of our most widely-known and respected fellow-citizens 
passed away in death. This was John Laing, often called ' Honest John Laing,' the 
senior partner of Laing, Turner & Co., of the old New York Gazette and General 
Advertiser, and his last illness — of paralysis or apoplexy — was hastened by the 
excitement and devastation of this great public calamity. He was a gentleman of 
the old-school queue hair style. 

In the estimated thirteen acres of the burnt district, only one store escaped 
entire. This was occupied by the well-known John A. Moore of this day, in the 



232 

iron trade on Water street near Old Slip. Watched inside, and fire-proof, in their 
wildest career, the rapid flames seemed, as it were, to overleap the building, destroy- 
ing all others. There it stood, solitary and alone, amidst surrounding entire 
destruction, as a sad monument stands alone amid the general ruin. 

As many as three or four buildings were blown up to stop the progress of the 
fire, all other efforts having failed, and if such a measure had been resorted to 
earlier, great destruction of property might possibly have been prevented. There 
was also a want of powder, although, unknown to the citizens, a vessel loaded with 
the article lay anchored in the stream. At last Mr. Charles King generously volun- 
teered to visit the Navy Yard for a supply, and returned with a band of marines 
and sailors. The explosions went on fearfully and successfully. Up and down went 
the mined structures, two barrels of powder under each, until no flames were left, 
no means of spreading the fiery element to the next houses. 

The extent of the fire in December, 18)J5, may be imagined from its severaj 
limits. These, commencing at Coffee-House Slip, extended along South street to 
Coenties Slip, thence to near Broad, along William to Wall, and down that street to 
the East River on the south side, with the exception of Nob. 51, 53, 55, 57, 59 and 
61, along where the new splendid banking-house of Brown Brothers & Company 
now stands. This burned district embraced some thirteen acres, in which nearly 
seven hundred houses were leveled to the ground in a single winter's night, with a 
loss of seventeen million dollars ; four millions, it was calculated, was the value of 
the buildings, and thirteen of the goods. During a few hours this vast amount 
disappeared, either in the flaming atmosphere or in ashes upon the earth — the most 
costly goods and products from every portion of our globe. Some merchants, retiring 
to bed wealthy in the evening, and perhaps so dreaming, found themselves the next 
morning either ruined or their estates seriously injured. In the impressive language 
of Scripture, their riches had taken wings and flew away in a single night, warehouse, 
stock, notes, and books, all gone beyond recovery. 

After the general consternation had somewhat subsided, a public meeting assem- 
bled in Mr. Lawrence's office (the Mayor's), City Hall, to consider what should be 
done under the circumstances. At this meeting committees were appointed to 
provide means for the relief of the most necessitous cases, and to ascertain the con- 
dition of the insurance companies, and the amount of the losses as far as practicable. 
The writer acted as secretary of this last committee, and the losses absolutely stated 
from various firms and parties amounted to ser ( nh en millions of dollars. In many 
cases they were total. Some would not name their damages, and among them very 
large houses, and although the seventeen millions were reported by the losers, still 
the committee estimated the real loss at twenty millions of dollars. To increase the 
difficulties, all the insurance companies, except the two mentioned in a former 
article, failed to meet the demands against them, but paid as much as they were 
able, and this consumed all their assets, leaving them bankrupt. This result caused 
great distress among a class who had been otherwise unharmed — old people, widows, 
orphans, and others, whose income came from fire insurance dividends ; these were 
now at an end, and many suffered severely in consequence. Among the first acts 
of the public committee was to relieve this class. 

In respect to the entire loss, some accounts place the number of buildings at 
five hundred and twenty-eight, others higher. Let us visit the 'Burnt Dis- 
trict,' as it was then named, commencing at the eastern limits. Coffee-House 
Slip, and South, Front, and Water streets, were burnt down from Wall street to 
Coenties Slip, Pearl consumed from the same point to Coenties alley, and there, as 
we have seen, stopped by the blowing up of a building. This was the well-known 
crowded region of the dry-goods importers and jobbers, merchant princes in the 



233 

granite palaces, filled with the richest merchandise, domestic and imported. The 
destruction on Stone street, extended down from William to then No. 32, one side, 
and to No. 39 on the other. Beaver was destroyed half-way to Broad. Exchange 
place was burned from Hanover street to within three doors of Broad, and here also 
the flames were arrested by blowing up a house. The loss on "William street was 
complete, commencing at Wall and ending in South, and on both sides, including 
the market in Old Slip. Wall street was devastated on the south side from 
William to South, excepting, as we have noticed, Nos. 51, 53, 55, 57, 59, and 61. 
The greatest efforts were made along here to prevent the flames reaching the banks 
and offices on the opposite side. Here was located the Courier and Inquirer ofhce, 
and we well remember the noble person of its editor, Col. Webb, as he stood on a 
prominent, elevated place, exhorting the people to renewed diligence and efforts to 
save the city. All the intermediate streets, lanes, and alleys within these limits 
were also swept away by the destroying element. The following statement will be 
found, we imagine, nearly accurate, of the house • and stores leveled to the earth : 

On Wall street 2G On Old Slip 33 

On South street 76 On Stone street 40 

On Front street 80 On Mill street 38 

On Water street 76 On Beaver street 23 

On Pearl street 79 On Hanover street 16 

On Exchange place 62 On Coenties Slip 16 

On Gouverneur's Lane 20 On Hanover Square 3 

On Jones's Lane 10 On Cuyler's Alley 20 

On Exchauge 31 — 

On William street U Total 67-1 

Six hundred and seventy-four tenements were thus consumed in a few short 
hours, and the far greater part were occupied by New York's largest shipping 
and wholesale dry-goods merchants, besides many grocers. 

This was a terrible day for the commercial emporium of our land. The de- 
struction had been fearful, and so were the consequences. In a few months the 
United States Bank suspended payment ; then followed the commercial distress of 
1837, and for a time business seemed paralyzed. Next came bankruptcy after bank- 
ruptcy in quick succession, and soon the banks of our State stopped payment for 
one year. The Legislature legalized this necessary public act. What a disastrous 
moment ! what terrible reverses! what gloomy forebodings and prospects ! But the 
most wonderful fact of all these fearful times was the energy and elasticity of the 
New Yorkers. Not long depressed by their misfortunes, a reaction took place, and 
before many months the city literally arose from her ashes, and acres of splendid 
granite, marble, brown-stone, and brick stores filled the entire ' Burnt District.' Bus- 
iness, trade, and commerce revived more briskly than ever before. How truly 
astonishing, and how noble and praiseworthy. What shall we call our native city 
— the giant of the Western World, the queen of America, the commercial empo- 
rium, or by what other name ? Her wharves and streets are now visited by men 
from every region of the world, and her white canvas gladdens every ocean. In 
vain do we search for a chapter in ancient or modern history of such a conflagra- 
tion and its losses, and of rapid recovery from all its evils, with increasing pros- 
perity, as we find in the great fire of New York in December, 1835. Well may 
New Yorkers be proud of their noble city, her enterprise, her trade, and her 
' merchant princes.' '' 

New York had now fairly distanced all competitors. The gas had 
been introduced into the city in 1825; the magnificent Merchants' 
Exchange on Wall street (the present Custom-House) and the Custom- 



234 

House (now the Sub-Treasury), erected iu 1827 ; the Croton Acqueduct 
completed and its practical utility inaugurated by a brilliant procession in 
1842 ; and a communication by the magnetic telegraph opened with other 
cities. Nothing was wanting to her temporal prosperity ; her civil freedom 
was all that could be desired ; and one thing only was necessary to place 
her on a footing with her sister cities in breadth and liberality of senti- 
ment. Nor was she long in taking this last step. By the provisions of 
an act, passed by the New York Board of Education, on the 11th of April, 
1842, it was declared that no school in which any religious or sectarian 
doctrine or tenet was taught, should receive any portion of the school 
moneys to be distributed by this act. Archbishop Hughes at once took 
the ground that to allow the Bible to be read daily in the schools was 
teaching a sectarian doctrine, and therefore demanded that the schools in 
which it was read should not be included in the distribution of the 
moneys. Colonel Stone, who for many years had been one of the School 
Commission, and at this time (1843-44) was Superintendent of the 
Common Schools,* immediately protested against the promulgation of this 



* The difficulty which the author experienced in endeavoring to discover the 
year in which Col. Stone was Superintendent of Common Schools, deserves particular 
mention, as showing the shiftless manner in which the public records are kept in 
the City of New York. AVishing to ascertain the exact year in which Mr. Stone held 
the office, he went to a gentleman (we will call him A), whom he knew to be engaged 
in -writing a history of our common schools and asked the question. The gentleman 
•was unable to tell him at the moment, but referred him to the Board of Education 
as the place where, of course, the desired information could be obtained. The author 
went there and asked an officer of the Board the question. He could not tell him, 
but referred him to a gentleman up stairs who would know. The latter, however, 
was equally in the dark, but, in his turn, referred his questioner to a gentleman down 
stairs in still another department, who, having been connected with the Board for a 
long term of years, would certainly know. Upon repeating the question to this one, 
he was informed that he did not know, as until within a few years the school records 
had not been annually printed, and that the manuscript kept by the different secre- 
taries before that time was mislaid. He, however, was positive that if he should go 
to Mr. , in Wall street, he would know, as he was one of the School Commis- 
sioners in the year designated. To him, therefore, the author went; but his astonish- 
ment may well be imagined when that person said he had entirely forgotten, but 
stated that if he would go to such a one — mentioning the veritable Mr. A. — he could 
undoubtedly tell him, as he was now engaged upon a history of the common schools ! 
This, if not "reasoning in a circle," certainly was questioning in a circle, the ques- 
tioner having brought up at the very point from which he started ! Finally, upon 
the author making a second visit to the room of the Board, an attache of the place, 
who had a dim recollection of a record-book being in the cellar, went down stairs, 
and after much search exhumed the manuscript, from which, after patient search, 
the desired information was brought to light. Now, if such difficulty exists in 
ascertaining — not an insignificant fact, but one relating to the Superintendent of 
Common Schools only twenty years since — what would be the difficulty in finding 
the history of events which occurred thirty, forty, or fifty years ago ? 

We have stated the above with no intention of throwing censure upon the 



235 

atrocious sentiment. A lengthy public discussion upon this point fol- 
lowed between the Archbishop and Mr. Stone, in which the latter carried 
the day; and at a meeting of the Board of Education, held November 13, 
1844 (two months after Mr. Stone's death), the act was amended by a 
resolution to the effect " that the Bible, without note or comment, is not 
a sectarian book, and that the reading of a portion of the Scriptures 
without note or comment, at the opening of the schools, is not inculcating 
or practicing any religious, sectarian doctrine or tenet of any particular 
Christian or other religious sect." The catholic spirit of New York's 
Dutch ancestors had triumphed. Henceforth, it is hoped that she will 
be as cosmopolitan in her religious, as she is in her civil rights. 

In 1845 New York was again visited by a conflagration second only 
in its ravages to the one of 1835. 

THE FIBE OF 1845. 

The burnt district embraced Broadway, Exchange Place, Whitehall, 
New, and Broad streets, Beaver, Marketheld, Stone, and Whitehall, and, 
which is a striking coincidence, a portion of the same region devastated 
by the great conflagration in '35, ten years before ! 

It broke out on July 19, 1845, completely destroying Exchange 
Place and Beaver street'from Broadway almost to William. Both sides 
of Broad street, from above Exchange Place to Stone, with the east sides 

officers of the present Board. The fault lies not at their door. On the contrary, 
with great courtesy, they endeavored to aid us to the extent of their ahility, and 
realized in its fullest extent the evils of the manner in which the records had in 
former times been kept. Indeed, it is only justice to say that it has been through 
their exertions that the proceedings have latterly been printed. 

Another remarkable illustration of the subject existed a few years ago in the 
basement of the City Hall under the County Clerk's Office. The ancient rolls of the 
colonial courts were one grand pile of parchment, lying in mass, and great quanti- 
ties were stolen and sold to gold-beaters. It would probably be impossible at the 
present time to find the judgment-roll in any cause tried prior to the year 1787, 
unless by chance. Possibly there has been more care of late in the preservation of 
these records. Their value cannot be overestimated. 

Althol^gh there may be spasmodic attempts by individuals to bring about a 
reform in this regard, yet we greatly fear that it will continue so long as the true 
cause of the difficulty remains, to wit, that political maxim — the bane of American 
institutions — " to the victors belong the spoils." New office-holders care little for old 
records; and, throwing aside all sentiment in the matter, unless this thing is 
rectified, it will, in time, embarrass the practical business relations of every -day 
life. More attention must be paid to preserving records. It is not necessary to 
make enormous jobs, such as the atrocity which was perpetrated in New York 
City in reference to the Register's Office. What is needed is, a general respect for 
the value of old records, and the adoption of preservative means. Better paper 
to record on ; better binding to keep ; and above all, fire-proof buildings for all public 
records. 



236 

of Broadway and Whitehall were consumed. Above Exchange Place 
the flames crossed Broadway and consumed a number of buildings on its 
west side. During the progress of the fire a tremendous explosion took 
place, similar to that of 1835, in a building stored with saltpeter. The 
owner contended that this article could not explode, which gave rise to 
the long-debated question, " Will saltpeter explode ?" and for a long time 
able and scientific men warmly took sides in the arguments. Explosive 
or not, this was the second store filled with the article that blew up, 
causing great alarm and destruction to the neighborhood. 

Three hundred and forty-five buildings were swept away at this 
time. Their value, with the goods, was estimated at about $5,000,000. 
Among other things destroyed was the old " Old Jail Bell," which had 
hung and rung in the cupola of that ancient civil pest-house and prison 
during the American Eevolution. There, as already stated, for years it 
was the fire-alarm or signal, and was considered especially the firemen's 
bell, as it could be depended on at all times. At an early period, when 
it uttered its warning tones, citizens with fire-buckets on their arms, 
might be seen hastening to the scene of danger and forming into par- 
allel lines, one to pass the full buckets to fill the engines, and the other 
to return the empty ones for refilling. Most of the New York families 
had such leather buckets, which generally hung in some prominent part 
of the hall or entry, ready at hand in case of need. 

The signal-bell rang in the clays of John Lamb and pleasant-faced 
Tommy Franklin, and during Jameson Cox's and Wyman's and Gulick's 
administrations. It was cherished by the firemen, and upon the destruc- 
tion of the Bridewell the old bell was placed in the cupola of the Naiad 
Hose Company, Beaver street, and was still devoted to its long-established 
uses. But the great fire of '45 swept away this building, with its ven- 
erable bell, and the faithful old public sentinel, sounding its last alarm, 
succumbed to the flaming foe against which it had so many years suc- 
cessfully warned the citizens. 

THE OLD AND NEW FIliE DEPAETMENT. 

How different the Eire Department now from the one of former 
years, when men were the horses to drag the ropes of the machine, and 
their strong arms the motive power to work them ! Now we have in their 
places horses to pull the engines, and the mighty giant , steam, to force 
the water upon the raging fiery element. Still, the little old-fashioned 
hand fire-engines did wonderful service in their day; and indeed the 
noble bearing, bravery, endurance, and success of our New York firemen 
had a world-renowned fame. Eor a long while " No. 5" on Eulton street, 
with " 14," near St. Paul's Church, were considered the " crack compa- 
nies" of the city, the first to reach a fire and among the last to leave it, 
and many a race they had. Before the year 1798, the citizens of New 



237 

York volunteered to take charge of and manage the fire-engines, but in 
the month of March of that year the Legislature granted an act of 
incorporation by which the firemen of the city were "constituted and 
declared to be a body politic in fact and in the name of the Fire Depart- 
ment." This was the origin of the system nearly seventy years ago. 
This act continued until April, 1810, and has been renewed from time to 
time since the Common Council appointed a " Chief Engineer, with a 
salaiy of eight hundred dollars per annum," to whom was confided the 
sole control of this department. He reported twice a year to the Com- 
mon Council the condition of the engines, buckets, houses, and apparatus. 
He also reported all fires and their accidents, with the number of build- 
ings destroyed or injured, the names of the sufferers, with the probable 
cause of the burning, &c. 

The Fire Wardens were also appointed by the Common Council, but 
none were eligible until they had served as firemen five years. They 
were a kind of overseers at the fires, and during the months of June 
and December examined all fire-places, chimneys, stoves, ovens, and 
boilers, and if found defective, ordered the owners to repair them, and if 
neglected a fine of $25 was imposed. They also examined all buildings, 
and would often order hemp, hay, gunpowder, and other combustible 
articles to be removed to safe places, under a penalty of $10. 

The firemen, divided into companies, chose their own foreman, 
assistant, and clerk, from their own number. The fire-wardens wore a 
hat, the brim of which was black, the crown white. The city arms were 
blazoned on its front. They also carried a speaking- trumpet, painted 
white, with " Warden," in black letters. When a building took fire in 
the night, notice was immediately given by the watchmen to the members 
of the corporation, fire-wardens, and bell-ringers ; they also called out 
" Fire," and the inhabitants placed lighted candles in their windows to 
aid the engines in their passages through the streets. Watchmen neg- 
lecting their duties were liable to a fine of $100. When a chimney took 
fire the occupant of the house was fined $5. The same fine was imposed 
upon carpenters who did not carefully remove their shavings at the end 
of every day's work. A person using a lighted lamp or candle in a 
store-house, unless secured in a lantern, forfeited $10. 

Forty years ago, Mr. Cox, the Chief Engineer, reported forty-two 
engines in good order, five hook and ladder trucks, and one hose wagon, 
with 10,256 feet of good hose ; also two hundred and fifty-five buckets, 
and twenty-eight ladders and thirty hooks. The total number of men 
belonging to the Fire Department was 1,347. What a wonderful change 
in the system since ! In 1SG5, the Metropolitan Fire Department was 
created and chartered by the Legislature, Charles E. Pinkney, president, 
and that fine old fireman, Philip W. Engs, treasurer. Now they use 
steam, horse, and man power, and have also the Croton water. The 



238 

new act allows twelve steam fire-engines and hook and ladder companies. 
the engines to have one foreman, one assistant, an engineer, stoker, 
driver, with seven firemen. To the hook and ladders, each one foreman, 
one assistant, a driver, and nine firemen. 

Their pay is fixed at $8,000 per annum to the Chief Engineer ; 
Assistants, 62,000; District Engineer, $1,500; Foremen, $1,100; Assist- 
ant, $900 ; engineer of steam-engine, $1,080; stokers, drivers, and fire- 
men, $840 each; Superintendent of Telegraph, $1,800; telegraph opera- 
tors, $1,000 each; battery boy, $500; lino-man, $1,000; and bell-ringers, 
each $800. The Department are uniformed, and their engines have 
increased to forty-four, and the hook and ladders to seventeen. 

Many fires have occurred since the one of 1845. Theaters, opera- 
houses, hotels, museums, and churches have fallen before the destroyer, 
each involving heavy losses: but the city has never since been visited by 
such wholesale destruction of property ; and it is fervently to be hoped 
that New York, protected by its present efficient Fire Department, has 
experienced the last of similar calamities. 

In August, 1865, the Old Warren Mansion, one of the last of the 
ancient landmarks that linked modern to old New York, was torn down; its 
beautiful lawns covered with brick, and its massive locusts cut down and 
given to the winds. This mansion, which stood near the intersection of 
Charles street and Bleecker, was built by Sir Peter Warren about 1740. 
Although when demolished, in the heart of the city, yet at that time it 
stood in the open country with its lawns reaching down to the North 
River — long before even the first cottage had been built in the village of 
Greenwich. It is indeed safe to say that around no other house did 
there cluster so many associations which to New Yorkers should be 
especially dear. Admiral, afterward Sir Peter Warren, the hero of 
Lew isburg, is scarcely known to the present generation; and yet aside 
from his being so long identified with the naval glory of England, he was 
in our colonial history the great man of an era, and at one time, during 
the administration of Clinton, exercised more influence in the Colonial 
Government than even the Governor himself. At that time when the 
extreme limit of our city was Wall street, the house No. 1 Broadway, by 
the Bowling Green — now the Washington Hotel — was built by Sir Peter 
as his town house, in distinction from his country seat — the house of which 
we are now speaking. In 1748, when the small-pox was raging in this 
city, the Colonial Assembly — to get out of reach of the contagion, accepted 
Sir Peter's tender of his country seat and adjourned thither to escape 
the plague by being in the country ! It indeed seemed really cruel to 
cut down those ancient trees planted by the Admiral's own hand. A 
tree, like a tooth, it very easily removed but is a long time in growing ; and 
it is thus that a Spanish peasant feels when, with religious feeling, he 
stoops down by the wayside and plants the pit or seed of the fruit which 



239 

he has been eating. It were to be wished that Americans had more 
veneration for the ancient traditions of their own country and for the 
vestiges of the past. A few individuals occasionally have this feeling, 
and in a large measure ; but as a nation we have no love for the past, and 
hence old landmarks, pregnant with hallowed associations, are continu- 
ally being removed to make room for " modern improvement," until it is 
to be feared that soon oral tradition will be all that will be left to inform 
the rising generation of what once was. It is true that more attention is 
now paid to our past history than formerly by Historical Societies ; but 
they are powerless in very many instances to arrest the hand of vandal- 
ism. The practice of the old country in this respect is far different. An 
old abbey or castle, or even an old tavern, is guarded with zealous care ; 
the government — if private liberality is in fault — pays out large sums to 
keep them intact ; and the people, even the lowest, feel a personal inter- 
est in the preservation of some relic which their village may perchance 
boast of. Especially is this difference in feeling between the old world 
and the new seen in the care with which all the mementos of a battle- 
field are preserved. In Germany, for example, Avhile the most ignorant 
peasant residing in the vicinity of any of the battle-fields of the thirty 
years' war will tell you accurately and truthfully where this and that 
point of interest is ; where the battle raged the hottest and where the 
turning point was reached ; a well-to-do farmer in America, residing on 
the battle-field itself, will be unable to point out a single place of interest 
— and he will do very well if he knows that there was a battle fought on 
his farm at all. Even at this veiy time, two farmers, living in the 
vicinity of the scene of the famous battle of Stillwater, are busily advo- 
cating their claims to living upon the particular spot upon which the 
famous charge of the British Highlanders was made — and yet the farms 
lie a mile distant from each other ! Chancing, moreover, to visit, a year 
or two since, the ruins of Fort Ticonderoga, on Lake Champlain, the writer 
was pained to find that the farmers in the vicinity had for several years 
past been in the habit of pulling down the ruins and drawing them off 
for the purpose of building fences. But it is not too late to prevent the 
removal of the few old landmarks that yet remain among us. In the 
densely settled parts of the city where they stand, there is great need of 
breathing-places — and why, therefore, cannot our city government buy 
the spots and let them remain as little parks ? The public certainly 
would feel much better satisfied with this expenditure of the public funds 
by the City Council than voting silver services or costly badges. Or if 
this cannot be done, will not some of our wealthy and influential citizens 
start and carry through a subscription for their purchase ? 

But we moralize in vain, for even while we are writing, and before 
the ink is dry on the pen which wrote the last sentence, the New York 
Evening Post of to-day (April 4th, 1868), says: 

" The widening of the Bloomingdale road into the new Boulevard, soon to bo 



240 

begun by the Park Commissioners, will cause the removal of several old landmarks. 
One of the most remarkable of these is an old house on Broadway, between Seventy- 
fifth and Sevsnty-sixth streets, which possesses greater historic interest than is 
generally known even to those living in its immediate vicinity. It was here that 
Louis Phillippe, of France, taught school during his residence in America, and the 
room in which his classes were held remains in nearly the same condition as during his 
occupancy of it. This quaint old house was erected some time previous to the Revo- 
lution, although no accurate record of its age can be found. The original deed of 
transfer was executed in 1796, but the house is known to be considerably older than 
this, as it was standing several years previous to the sale of the farm. 

It is a low two-story frame house with brick ends, covering a space fifty by 
( ighty feet square, substantially built and still habitable, though it has not been 
occupied for the past thirteen years or more. A steep, sloping, shingle roof extends 
from the eaves of the porch in front to the extreme rear kitchen, with dormer 
windows to light the upper rooms. In the interior, on either side of the central 
hall, are parlors and sitting-rooms, with low ceilings and narrow doorways. The 
wood-work in these rooms is finished with an elaborate care not seen in houses of 
this class now-a-days. There are corner cupboards with carved and paneled doors, 
quaintly ornamented window casings, immense fire-places, surbases finished with a 
profusion of moulding, and doors that seem to have been put together like a Chinese 
puzzle. The stairs are narrow and steep, turning squarely at each platform, instead 
of winding, as in more modern houses. Around the fire-place in the school-room of 
the exiled King, is a row of blue and white Antwerp tiles, ornamented with pictures 
from the New Testament, with the chapter and verse to which they refer indicated 
in large characters beneath. These are probably the last that remain in New York 
of the historic Dutch tiles that were once so fashionable. This venerable mansion, 
which is probably the oldest in the city, was formerly the homestead of the Somer- 
indike family, who once owned nearly all the surrounding part of the island not 
included in the extensive Harsen estate. About 1846 it was purchased by the late 
Edward F. Cullen, a well-known and wealthy Irish citizen, and is now owned by 
his heirs." 

The history of New York City has now been brought down to a 
comparatively recent period — a period within the recollection of almost 
the youngest inhabitant. The limits of this work will not permit us to 
speak at length of the causes which have led to the commercial and local 
prosperity of New York ; the nature and extent of her benevolent insti- 
tutions ; and the character of her merchant princes. Wealth, in itself, is 
no evidence of a city's prosperity ; and, therefore, we do not refer to those 
of her rich men who are distinguished for that alone, and whose names 
will readily suggest themselves to the reader. But we do take pride in 
pointing to men whose immense wealth is guided and controlled by the 
principles of evangelical religion. Of this latter class are Marshall 0. 
Roberts, the brothers R. L. and A. Stewart, William E. Dodge, S. B. 
Schieffelin — and others of similar character — men who are distinguished 
alike for their christian virtues and purity of life, and for their unparalleled 
business success. Nor, were there ample space, is there any inclination 
to recall in detail that which must ever remain a foul blot on the 
otherwise bright escutcheon of New York : the disgraceful scenes of 



241 

the riot of the 13th, 14th, and 15th of July, 1863. We would rather 
dwell on pleasanter themes — the establishment of that noble work, the 
Young Men's Christian Association, under the guidance of William E 
Dodge, Jr., and Robert E. McBinney* — the opening of that great lung of 
the city, the Central Park, — and the part taken by the city in the late 
civil war — leading the van in every movement having for its object either 
the support of the Government, or the relief of its brave defenders. 
These events, however, are too well known to need recapitulation here. 
A brief retrospective glance, or rather a comparison between old and 
modern New York, will therefore conclude this sketch. Nor, perhaps, 
can this be done better than by giving at length a few of the closing 
passages of Dr. Osgood's admirable address, delivered before the New 
York Historical Society, on the occasion of its sixty-second anniversary, 
in November, 1866 : 

" In 1796, taxes were light, being about one half of one per cent. ; 
and in that year the whole tax raised was £7,968, and the whole valua- 
tion of property was £1,261,585 — estimates that were probably about 
half the real value, so that the tax was only about one-fourth of one per 

* The Young Men's Christian Association, of New York City, -was 
organized July, 1852, and incorporated April, 1860, for the " Improvement of the 
Spiritual, Mental, Social, and Physical Condition of Young Men." The Association 
seeks to accomplish the pm'poses of its organization by the employment of the fol- 
lowing agencies, namely : Free Reading-Rooms, a Free Circulating and a Free 
Reference Library, Sunday Evening Sermons, Free Lectures at Rooms, Prayer- 
Meetings, Bible-Classes, Social and Musical Meetings, Readings, a Literary Society 
and a Musical Society ; by aiding in the selection of good boarding-places ; by 
obtaining, as far as possible, situations for those who are out of employment ; by 
visiting and relieving those who are sick and in want ; by introducing strangers to 
fit persons for friends and acquaintances, and to suitable church connections, and by 
the use of every other means, in harmony with the name it bears, that may tend to 
cheer, aid, and guide young men, especially such as come from country homes or 
foreign lands. 

A very valuable plot of land on the south-west corner of Fourth avenue and 
Twenty-third street has recently been purchased, at a cost of $142,000, for the 
erection of a building worthy of the work to which the Association has devoted its 
energies. The building will cost about $200,000. The vigor and good judgment 
with which the Association has always conducted its work, has given to it the full 
confidence of the very best men in the city. Its real estate is held by a Board of 
Trustees, composed of such men as Stewart Brown, Robert L. Stuart, James Stokes, 
Charles C. Colgate, Robert Lenox Kennedy, Jonathan Sturges, etc. 

" Hundreds of young men," writes Mr. McBinney to the writer, " from all parts 
of our own land, as well as from Europe, come to us for advice on temporal and 
spiritual things. "We are careful not to make public the cases which come under 
our notice, so that young men may come to us with full confidence when in difficulty. 
Many who have been thus quietly helped are now holding prominent positions in 
the city." 

The Rooms of the Association are at 161 Fifth Avenue, 76 Varick street, and 
122d street and Third avenue, and at 97 Wooster street for colored vouna: men. 

16 



•242 

cent. A man worth $50,000 was thought rich, and some fortunes reached 
$250,000. Mechanics had a dollar a day for wages, and a genteel house 
rented for $350 a year, and $750 additional would meet the ordinary 
expenses of living for a genteel family — such as now spends from $6,000 
to $10,000, we have good reason to believe, from such authority as Mr. 
D. T. Valentine, Clerk of the Common Council. A good house could be 
bought for $3,000 or $4,000, and flour was four and five dollars a barrel, 
and beef ten cents a pound. 

There were great entertainments, and men ate and drank freely — 
more freely, apparently, than now — but nothing of present luxury pre- 
vailed in the high classes ; and how rare the indulgence was, is proved 
by the common saying, that ' the Livingstons give champagne,' which 
marked their case as exceptional. Now, surely, a great many families in 
New York besides the Livingstons give champagne, and not always 
wisely for their own economy or their guests' sobriety. 

These homely items give a familiar idea of old New York in 1801. 
We must remember that it was then a provincial city, and had nothing 
of its present back-country connection with the West, being the virtual 
capital of the Hudson River Valley rather than that of the great Empire 
State. Buffalo, Syracuse, Utica, and the noted cities of Western New 
York, were but names then, and Albany was of so little business note 
that the main communication with it was by dilatory sloops, such as 
Irving describes after his slow voyage in the craft that he long waited for, 
and which gave him ample time to study the picturesque on the Hudson, 
with such food for his humor as the Captain's talk in Dutch to his crew 
of negro slaves. What a contrast with a trip now in the St. John or the 
Dean Richmond — marine palaces that float you, as in a dream by night; 

through the charmed passes of the Hudson to Albany ! 

# * * * * * 

The New York Churches were strong ; but the clergy were little 
given to speculative thinking, and no commanding thinker appeared 
among them, such as abounded in New England. They kept the old 
creeds and usages with a strength that awed down dissent, and with a 
benign temper that conciliated favor. Latitudinarian tendencies were 
either suppressed or driven into open hostility with the popular creeds 
under deistical or atheistical teachers. In all, the congregations num- 
bered thirty, and the Jews had one synagogue. Even the most radical 
congregation in the city, the Universalist, held mainly the old theological 
views, and had only one point of peculiar doctrine, and even with this 
single exception, and with all the orthodox habits, they had only a lay 
organization in 1801, and were without a regular minister till 1803. 

The' Dutch Reformed, Episcopalians, Presbyterians, and Methodists, 
numbered each five congregations ; the Baptists, three : the Friends, two ; 
the Lutherans, two ; the Roman Catholics, Huguenots, Moravians, and 



243 

Universalists, one each. Some writers erroneously assign seven churches 
instead of five, to the Episcopalians in 1801, by claiming for them the 
Huguenot Church Du Saint Esprit, which was established in 1704, and 
acceded to the Episcopal Church in 1804; and Zion Church, which was 
established by the Lutherans in 1801, and joined the Episcopal commu- 
nion in 1810. 

As far as we can judge, the Presbyterian clergy had most of the 
new American culture of the severer kind, and Drs. Samuel Miller and 
John M. Mason were the intellectual leaders of the New York pulpit. 
The only man to be named with them in popular influence was John 
Henry Hobart, who was ordained in 1801, consecrated Bishop in 1811, 
and who, in spite of his extreme views of Episcopal prerogative, is to be 
named among the fathers of the American Church, and a good specimen 
of what old Trinity Church has done to unite patriotism with religion. 

The Episcopal Church had much accomplishment in its clergy, and 
Bishop Prevoost, who received ordination in England, was a man of 
extensive knowledge ; and Dr. Livingston, of the Dutch Church, was a 
good match for him in learning and dignity. It is said that when these 
clerical magnates met on Sundays and exchanged salutations, they took 
up the entire street, and reminded beholders of two frigates under full 
sail, exchanging salutes with each other. 

* * We may regard old New York as culminating in the year 1825, 
with the completion of the Erie Canal ; and that great jubilee that mar- 
ried this city to the mighty West, began a new era of triumph and 
responsibility, that soon proved that the bride's festival is followed by the 
wife's cares and the mother's anxieties. New York had become the 
national city, and was so for a quarter of a century more, and then she 
became cosmopolitan, European as well as American, and obviously one 
of the few leading cities of the world — the third city of Christendom. 
We may fix this change upon the middle of the century as well as upon 
any date, and call the time from 1850 till now her cosmopolitan era. The 
change, of course, was gradual, and the great increase of the city dates 
from the close of the Eevolutionary War and the evacuation of the city 
by the British troops. The population doubled nearly in the ten years 
after 1790, and went from 33,000 to 60,000. In 1825 it reached 166,086, 
and in 1850 rose to 515,515. All this increase could not but bring a new 
sense of power, and throughout all the bewildering maze of the old New 
York politics we can see traces of the desire of the people and their leaders 
to dispute the palm of empire with Virginia and its old dominion. 

* * The introduction of gas and of the Croton water were grand illus- 
trations of the power of organized industry, and mighty aids in throwing 
light, health, and purity into the lives of the people ; and the rise of the 
great popular daily journals that almost created the national press of 
America, made an era in the free fellowship of public thought. The City 



244 

pushed its triumphal march forward during that period, from Bleecker 
street to Madison Scpiare, and vainly tried to halt its forces at Washing- 
ton and Union Squares, or to pause long anywhere on the way of empire. 
The whole period would make an important history of itself, and our task 
now is with the New York of to-day, as it has risen into cosmopolitan 
rank since 1850 — the year which gave us a line of European steamers of 
our own, and opened the Golden Gate of California to our packets. 

Look at our city now in its extent, population, wealth, institutions, 
and connections, and consider how far it is doing its great work, under 
God's providence, as the most conspicuous representative of the liberty of 
the nineteenth century in its hopes and fears. You are too familiar with 
the figures and facts that show the largeness of the city, to need any ' 
minute or extended summary of recapitulation. That we are not far 
from a million of people on this island, that began the century with 
60,000 ; that the valuation of property, real and personal, has risen since 
1805 from $25,000,000, to $736,988,058 ; that the real value of property 
here is about $1,000,000,000, or a thirtieth part of the entire property of 
Great Britain ; that our taxes within that time have risen from $127,000 
to $16,950,767, over four and a half millions more than our whole 
national expenditure in 1801 ; that our banking capital is over $90,000,- 
000, and the transactions of our Clearing Houses, for the year ending 
October 1, 1866, were over $29,000,000,000; that our Savings-Banks 
have 300,000 depositors, and $77,000,000 of deposits ; that our 108 Fire 
Insurance Companies and 38 Fire Agencies have a capital of $47,560,000, 
and our 18 Life Insurance Companies a capital of $2,938,000, whose 
premiums last year were nearly $9,000,000 ; that, by the census of 1865, 
the number of dwellings was 49,844, and the value of them was 
$423,096,918; that this city, by the census of 1860, returned a larger 
manufacturing product than any other city in the Union, and more than 
any State, except New York, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania — the sum 
total of $159,107,369, from raw material worth $96,177,038 in 4,375 
establishments, with 90,204 operatives, and $61,212,757 capital, and 
manufactured nearly one-eleventh of the sum total of the United States 
manufactures in 1860, which was $1,885,861,676; that in twenty years 
we exported, from September 1, 1846, to September 1, 1866, to Europe, 
over 27,000,000 barrels of flour, over 164,000,000 bushels of wheat, 127-, 
000,000 bushels of corn, nearly 5,000,000 bushels of rye ; that the 
receipts for customs in this port for 1865 were $101,772,905 ; that this 
City is the great gold market of the world, and in 1865 received $61,- 
201,108, and exported over $30,000,000 abroad, and received in twelve 
years, 1854 to 1866, from San Francisco $375,558,659 in gold ; that our 
shipping, registered and enrolled in 1865, amounted in tonnage to 1,223,- 
264 tons, and the number of arrivals of vessels in this port in 1865 was 
12,634, of these, 2,078 being steamers ; that our exports for the year 



245 



1865 were $208,630,282, and our imports were $224,742,419 ; that, on 
an average, 35 tons of mail-matter are received here for our citizens, and 
55 tons are sent out daily ; that the average number of mail-bags received 
is 385, and the average number sent out is 713 ; that within three years 
and a half the mail correspondence of our citizens has doubled ; that the 
number of letters and newspapers collected by the carriers for the quarter 
ending December 31, 1865, was over 3,000,000, and the number delivered 
by them was over 3,600,000, and the deliveries from Post-Office boxes 
for the same quarter were over 5,000,000 ; that the increase of letters is 
so marvelous that New York may soon rival London, which, in 1862, 
received by mail 151,619,000 letters ; these and the like plain statistics 
are sufficient to prove the imperial wealth and power of New York, and 
to startle us with the problem of its prospective growth, when we remem- 
ber that 4y 6 Q- per cent, increase, which has been generally the actual rate 
of increase, will give us a population of some 4,000,000 at the close of the 
century. 

* * Let us pass in review the industrial army of the city, which 
General Barlow, Secretary of State, allows me to copy from the unpub- 
lished census of 1865, and let us imagine it divided into regiments, thus, 
of about a thousand persons each : 

Blacksmiths, over two and one-half regiments or 2,621 

Bookbinders, over one " .... 1,134 

Boiler Makers, nearly one " .... 910 

Boot and Shoe Makers, over six " .... 6,307 

Butchers, four " .... 3,998 

Brokers, one and one-third " .... 1,348 

Barbers, one " 1,054 

Cabinet Makers and Dealers, two and one-half " .... 2,575 

Carpenters, over six " .... 6,352 

Cartmen and Draymen, four and one-half " 4,675 

Clerks, seventeen and one-half " 17,620 

Clergy, nearly one-half " 429 

Confectioners, nearly one " .... 756 

Cooks, one " .... 906 

Coopers, one and one-half " .... 1,401 

Dressmakers, etc., nine and one-half " 9,501 

Drivers, nearly two " .... 1,895 

Engineers, over one " .... 1,196 

Grocers, one " 937 

Hat and Cap Makers, one and one-half " 1,438 

Jewelers, one " .... 925 

Laborers, twenty-one and one-quarter " .... 21,231 

Laundresses, three and one-half " .... 3,590 

Lawyers, one and one-fourth " .... 1,232 

Merchants, six " 5,978 

Machinists, three " .... 3,108 

Masons, three " 2,757 

Milliners, one and one-third " .... 1,334 



246 

Musicians, nearly one regiments or 809 

Painters and Glaziers, four " 3 801 

Peddlers, two » \ 988 

Physicians, one and one-fourth " 1,269 

Piano Makers, nearly one " 855 

Plumbers, one « 1 108 

Police, one and one-half " 1,546 

Porters, nearly three " .... 2,729 

Printers, two " 2,186 

Saddlers and Harness Makers, one " 915 

Sailors and Marines, over three " .... 3,288 

Servants, thirty-three " 33,282 

School-Children, one hundred " 100,000 

Ship Carpenters, one " 1,156 

Stone Cutters, one and one-third " 1,342 

Tailors, ten " .... 9,734 

Teachers, over one and one-half " .... 1,608 

Tinsmiths, one " 931 

These occupations and others that I might present from the volu- 
minous pages of the census, reckon about 150,000 of the people, and with 
school- children a quarter of a million. 

The marvelous growth of population, within twenty years, 
has added half a million to our numbers, and called, of course, for new 
measures, and ought to be some excuse for some mistakes and disap- 
pointments. The charter bears the mark of many changes, and is 
destined to bear more. The original charter was given by James II, in 
1686 ; was amended by Queen Anne in 1708 ; further enlarged by George 
II in 1730, into what is now known as Montgomerie's Charter, and 
as such was confirmed by the General Assembly of the Province 
in 1732, and made New York essentially a free city. The Mayor was 
appointed by the Provincial Governor and Council, till the Revolution ; 
by the State Governor and four members of the Council of Appointment, 
till 1821 ; by the Common Council, until 1834, and afterward by the 
people. In 1830, the people divided the Common Council into two 
boards, and in 1849 the government was divided into seven departments, 
the heads of each being chosen by the people, and the Mayor's term of 
office being extended to two years. In 1853, the Board of Assistant 
Aldermen was changed to a Board of sixty Councilmen, and the term of 
Aldermen extended to two years. In 1857, the number of Aldermen was 
reduced from twenty-two to seventeen, and the sixty Councilmen t° 
twenty-four ; and the present complex system of government was estab- 
lished, with its many disconnected branches and equivocal division of 
power between the city, county, and State. Strangely is the Mayor 
shorn of power, and the office which De Witt Clinton preferred to his 
place in the National Senate, is now little more than a name and position- 
Still, the essence of Montgomerie's old charter remains, and the true 
spirit can redress the new corruptions. 



247 

* * With all the drawback of defective municipal government? 
the city is a great power in the Union, and gave its wealth and men to 
the nation. Nay, its very passion has been national, and the mass who 
deplored the war never gave \ip the. Union, and might, perhaps, have 
consented to compromise rather than to disunion, and have gone beyond 
any other city in clinging to the Urnon as such, whether right or wrong. 
The thoughtful mind of the city saw the true issue, and, whilst little 
radical or doctrinaire in its habit of thinking, and more inclined to trust to 
historical tendencies and institutional discipline for the removal of wrong 
than to abstract ideas, it did not waver a moment after the die was 
cast, and the blow of rebellion and disunion was clear. The ruling 
business powers of the city gave money and men to the nation, when the 
Government was halting and almost paralyzed. The first loan was 
hazardous, and the work of patriotism ; and when our credit was once 
committed, the wealth of the city was wholly at the service of the nation ; 
and the ideas of New England, and the enthusiasm of the West, marched 
to victory with the mighty concurrence of the money and the men of the 
Empire City and State. The State furnished 473,443 men, or, when 
reduced to years of service, 1,148,604 years' service ; equal to three years' 
service of 382,868 three years' men ; and the city alone furnished 
116,382 men, equal to 267,551 years' service, at a net cost of S14, 577, 214.65. 
That our moneyed men meant devoted patriotism, it is not safe to say of 
them all. In some cases, their capital may have been wiser and truer 
than the capitalist, and followed the great current of national life. 
Capital, like water, whose currents it resembles, has its own laws, and he 
who owns it cannot change its nature, any more than he who owns a 
water-power can change the power of the water. The capital of this city is 
bound, under God, to the unity of the nation, and, therefore, has to do a 
mighty part in organizing the liberty of the nineteenth century. Led by 
the same large spirit, and true to the Union policy which has been the 
habit of the community from the old Dutch times, the dominant thought 
of our people will be sure to vindicate the favorite idea of States Eights 
in the Union against States Wrongs out of it ; and the seceded States will 
be restored as soon as they secure the States that have never seceded the 
just fruits of the war for the national life — and guarantee them against 
all repetition of the treason. The end shall be liberty for all ; for the 
white man and the black man, everywhere ; for the South as well as the 
North. 

And how shall we estimate the education of our people in its 
various forms ; by schools, colleges, newspapers, books, churches, and, not 
least, by this great university of human life which is always before our 
eyes ! Think of the 208,309 scholars reported in 1865 in our public schools, 
and the average attendance of 86,674 in those schools, and over 100,000 
scholars in regular attendance in all our schools, both public and private. 



248 

Think of our galleries of art, private and public, and our great libraries 
and reading-rooms like the Astor, the Mercantile, the Society, and the 
Cooper Union. Consider the remarkable increase of private libraries, 
such as Dr. Wynne has but begun to describe in his magnificent volume. 
Think of our press, and its constant and enormous issues, especially of 
daily papers, which are the peculiar literary institution of our time, and 
alike the common school and university of our people. Our 350 churches 
and chapels, 258 of them being regular churches of all kinds, can accom- 
modate about 300,000 hearers, and inadequate as in some respects they 
are, as to location and convenience, they can hold as many of the people 
as wish to attend church, and far more than generally attend. Besides 
our churches and chapels, we have powerful religious instrumentalities 
in our religious press, and our city is the center of publication of leading 
newspapers, magazines, and reviews, of the great denominations of the 
country. In these organs the best scholars and thinkers of the nation 
express their thought in a way wholly unknown at the beginning of the 
century, when the religious press of the country was not apparently 
dreamed of. The higher class of religious and theological reviews that 
are published here, are, perhaps, the best specimens of the most enlarged 
scholarship and severe thinking of America, and are doing much to 
educate an enlightened and truly catholic spirit and fellowship. If the 
question is asked, in view of all these means of education, what kind of 
mind is trained up here, or what are the indications of our New York 
intelligence, it may not be so easy to say in full, as to throw out a hint or 
two by way of suggestion. There is, certainly, what may be called a 
New York mind and character, and there must be from the very nature 
of the case. Some characteristics must mark each community, as the 
results of birth and breeding ; and however great the variety of elements, 
some qualities must predominate over others in the people, as in the 
climate and fruits of a country. Where two tendencies seem to balance 
each other for a time, one is sure, at last, to preponderate, and to gain 
value and power with time, and win new elements to itself. It is not 
hard to indicate the essential New York character from the beginning' 
It is positive, institutional, large-hearted, genial, taking it for granted 
that all men are not of one pattern, and that we are to five by allowing 
others to have their liberty as we have ours. 

* * How far assimilation in its various forms of thought and life 
is to go, we can only conjecture ; for the process has but begun. Our 
community, like every other community, must go through three stages of 
development to complete its providential evolution : aggregation, accom- 
modation, and assimilation. The . first stage is aggregation ; and that 
comes, of course, with the fact of residence. Here we are, about a million 
of us, aggregated on this healthy and charming island, and here we most 
of us expect and wish to stay. We are seeking our next stage, and wish 



249 

accommodation not- with entire success, and the city is distressed by 
prosperity, and is like an overgrown boy, whose clothes are too small for 
his limbs, and he waits in half nakedness for his fitting garments. In some 
respects, the city itself is a majestic organism, and we have light, water, 
streets, and squares, much to our mind, always excepting the dirt. The 
scarcity of houses, the costs of rent, living, and taxation are grievous, and 
driving a large portion of our middling class into the country. Yet the 
eity is full and overflowing, and is likely to be. The work of assimilation 
is going on, and every debate, controversy, and party, brings the various 
elements together ; and we are seeing each other, whether we differ or 
agree. Great progress has been made in observing and appreciating 
our situation and population. Probably New York knows itself better 
to-day than at any time since its imperial proportions began to appear. 
In politics, police, philanthropy, education, and religion, we are reckoning 
our classes, numbers, and tendencies, and feeling our way towards some 
better harmony of ideas and interests. The whole population of the city 
was, by census of 1860, 813,669 ; and by the census of 1865, 726,386. 
The voters number 151,838; native, 51,500; foreign, 77,475. Over 
twenty-one years, they who cannot read and write are 19,199. Families 
number 148,683. Total of foreigners by census of 1860, was 383,717; 
and by the census of 1865, 313,417. Number of women by census of 
1865 was 36,000 more than of men, and of widows, over 32,000 ; being 
25,000 more widows than widowers. The Germans, by the census of 
1860, numbered 119,984; and by the census of- 1865, 107,269. This 
makes this city not the third, but the eighth city in the world as to Ger- 
man population. These German cities have a larger population : Berlin, 
Vienna, Breslau, Cologne, Munich, Hamburg, and Dresden. The Irish, 
by the census of 1860, number 203,700 ; and by the census of 1865, 161,- 
334. New York now, we believe, has a million of residents, and either 
peculiar difficulties in the census commission of 1865, or peculiar influen- 
ces after the war, led to the appearance of diminishing population. Cer- 
tainly we have, of late, gained numbers, and have not lost in variety of 
elements to be assimilated. The national diversities are not hostile, and 
we are seeking out their best, instead of their worst, qualities. Italian 
art and French accomplishment we can appreciate without forgetting 
that we are Americans. We are discerning in our New York Germany 
something better than Lager Beer and Sunday Concerts, and learning to 
appeal to the sterling sense and indomitable love of liberty of the coun- 
trymen of Luther and Gutenberg. The Irish among us, who make this 
the second if not the first Irish city of the world, and who contribute so 
largely to our ignorant and criminal returns, we are studying anew, aud 
discerning their great service to industry and their great capacity for 
organization. We find among them good specimens of the blood of the 
Clintons and the Emmets, and are bound to acknowledge that in purity, 



250 

their wives and daughters may be an example to any class in America or 
Europe. Old Israel is with us too in force, and some thirty synagogues 
of Jews manifest the power of the oldest organized religion, and the 
example of a people that cares wholly for its own sick and poor ; willing 
to meet Christians as friends and citizens, and learn our religion more 
from its own gospel of love, than from its old conclaves of persecution. 
We often see other types of the Oriental mind in our streets and houses, 
and it will be well for us when Asia is here represented by able specimens 
of her mystical piety, and we learn of her something of the secret of her 
repose in God, and give her in return something of our art of bringing 
the will of God to bear upon this stubborn earth, instead of losing sight 
of the earth in dreams of pantheistic absorption. In many ways the vari- 
ous elements are combining to shape our ideas and society, and fill out 
the measure of our practical education. 

Yet, probably, the most important assimilation, as already hinted, is 
that which is going on here between the various elements of our Ameri- 
can life in this mother-city which is destined, aparently, to be to America 
what Home was to the tribes that thronged to its gates. What has been 
taking place in England is taking place here, and the Independents and 
Churchmen are coming together here as in England since the Revolu- 
tion of 1688, when extremes were greatly reduced, and the independency 
of Milton and Cromwell began to reappear in combination with the church 
ways of Clarendon and Jeremy Taylor. The most significant part of the 
process is the union here of Puritan individualism and its intuitive think- 
ing and bold ideas, with New York institutionalism, and its organizing 
method and objective mind. The Yankee is here, and means to stay, 
and is apparently greatly pleased with the position and reception, and 
enjoys the fixed order and established paths of his Knickerbocker hosts. 
It is remarkable that whilst New England numbered only some 20,000, 
or 19,517 of her people here, which is 7,000 less than the nations of Old 
England in the city, by the census of 1860, they are so well received and 
effective, and fill so many and important places in business and the pro- 
fessions. By the census of 1865, New York City has 17,856 natives of 
New England, and 19,699 natives of Old England ; a balance of 1,843 
in favor of Old England. Yet, in the State at large, the result is different, 
for the population numbers 166,038 natives of New England, and 95,666 
natives of Old England ; a balance of 70,372 in favor of New England. 
It is curious to note that the city had only 825 native Dutch in 1865, and 
the State 4,254. In a philosophical point of view, it is memorable that 
the Puritan mind is now largely in power, even in our church establish- 
ments that so depart from New England independency, and the leading 
Presbyterian and Episcopal preachers and scholars are largely from the 
Puritan ranks. Our best informed scholar in the philosophy of religion, 
who holds the chair of theological instruction in the Presbyterian Semi- 



251 

nary, is a New England Congregationalist, transplanted to New York. 
Nay, even the leading, or at least the most conspicuous, Roman Catholic 
theologian of New York, is the son of a Connecticut Congregationalist 
minister, and carries the lineal blood and mental habit of his ancestor, 
Jonathan Edwards, into the illustration and defense of the Roman creed. 
It is worthy of note that our most philosophical historian is the son of a 
Massachusetts Congregational minister, and a lover of the old scholastic 
thinking, and a champion of the ideal school of Edwards and Channing 
in its faith and independency ; author, too, of perhaps the most bold and 
characteristic word of America to Europe, the oration of February 22> 
1866, that was the answer of our new world to British Toryism, and 
Romish Obscurantism, whether to the Premier's mock neutral manifesto, 
or the Pope's Encyclical Letter. 

* * It is the province of the New York Historical Society to keep 
up the connection of the New York of the past with the New York of 
to-day, and zealously to guard and interpret all the historical materials 
that preserve the continuity of our public life. It is to be lamented that 
so little remains around us to keep alive the memory of the ancient time ; 
and everything almost that we see is the work of the new days. Sad it 
is that all the old neighborhoods are broken up, and the old houses and 
churches are mostly swept away by our new prosperity. But how impres- 
sive are our few landmarks ? We all could join in the Centennial Jubilee 
of St. Paul's, and wish well to its opening future. So, too, we can greet 
our neighbors of the John Street Church in their Centennial, and thank 
God for the one hundred years of New York Methodism. Who of us can 
pass without reflection by the old Middle Dutch Church, now our Post 
Office, in Nassau street, and without recalling the years and events that 
have passed since 1729, when it was opened for worship in the Dutch 
tongue ? In March, 1764, the preaching there was, for the first time, in 
English, and in August, 1844, Dr. De Witt gave an outline of its history 
and pronounced the benediction in Dutch ; and that old shrine of the 
Knickerbockers is now the busy brain of the nation and the world, and 
receives and transmits some forty tons of thought a day. What would 
one of those old Rip Van Winkles of 1729 have thought, if he could have 
prolonged his Sunday afternoon nap in one of those ancient pews till 
now, and awoke to watch the day's mail, with news by the last steamers 
and the Atlantic cable for all parts of the great continent ? Our Broad- 
way, ever changing, and yet the same old road is perhaps our great 
historical monument, and the historical street of America by eminence. 
All the men of our history have walked there, and all nations and tribes 
have trodden its stones and dust. In our clay what have we seen there, 
what processions, armies, pageants ? What work would be more an 
American as well as New York history, than Broadway, described and 
illustrated with text and portraits, from the times when Stuy vesant aston- 



252 

ished the Dutch with his dignity to the years that have brought the hearse 
of our murdered President and the carriage of his successor along its 
stately avenue ? Thank heaven for old Broadway, noble type of Ameri- 
can civilization, from the Battery to Harlem River, and may the ways of 
the city be as straight as the lines of its direction and as true to the march 
of the Providence of God. 

What the orator who ushers in the twentieth century here, or 
who celebrates your one hundredth anniversary, may have to say as he 
reviews the nineteenth century, I will not undertake to say. What we 
should wish and pray for is clear. Clear that we should wish the new 
times to keep the wisdom and virtue of the old with all the new light and 
progress ; clear that after our trying change from the old quarters to the 
new, we may build a nobler civilization on the new base, and so see bet- 
ter days than ever before ; that the great city that shall be here, should 
be not only made up of many men, but of true manhood, and be not only 
the capital of the world, but the city of God ; its great park the central 
ground of noble fellowship, its great wharves and markets the seat of 
honorable industry and commerce ; its public halls the headquarters of 
free and orderly Americans, its churches the shrines of the blessed faith 
and love that join man with man and give open communion with God 
and heaven. 



SUPPLEMENT, 



CONTAINING THE 



Prominent 



MERCANTILE HOUSES 



CORPORATE BODIES 



]§ak Contrihttri) Pafraaflij to % 6roli)fjj $ Iprropcrito 



NEW YORK CITY. 



I'oMI'ILED BY 



hi 

E. CLEAVE. 



EXPLANATORY. 



For the benefit of those who have perused the foregoing 
History of New York City, it has been thought desirable to 
accompany it by an enumeration of those prominent mercantile 
houses that have contributed materially to her growth and pros- 
perity. New York, as the preceding pages clearly demonstrate, 
was emphatically a city of merchants ; and it is in this regard that 
the settlement of New York is sui generis, and radically different 
in its origin from that of her sister colonies. New England was 
settled by a religious sect who sought in the New World a safe 
asylum from religious persecution ; Virginia was first peopled by a 
band of dissolute adventurers whose sole aim was the acquisition ot 
wealth, whether by fair means or foul; Pennsylvania was visited 
by its founder, Penn, chiefly with a view of obtaining large landed 
estates. But the colonization of New York, by the Dutch, had its 
origin solely in the desire to build up a community by the prosecu- 
tion of legitimate trade,— an intention, moreover, which, through 
all vicissitudes, has never been lost sight of from that time to the 
present. 

The merchants of New York are to-day, in a business point of 
view, the legitimate descendants of their early Dutch ancestors in 
everything that constitutes unswerving integrity, business tact, 
unblemished honor, and a conscious rectitude of purpose. There 
are, it is painful to observe, exceptions to the rule ; but, in the 
main, the statement itself will not, it is thought, be denied even 
by the most captious. 

In view of these facts, it has been the aim, in presenting to 
the public the following names, to give those houses that seem 
justly entitled to a place in the class thus described. We would 
not, of course, have it understood that we have embraced in the 
accompanying category all of this class ; for there are many firms 
noted for the same qualities to which we have alluded, but which 
are necessarily excluded by the prescribed limits of the present 
work. 

With these prefatory remarks, the present volume is submitted 
to the respectful consideration of the public. 



J. J. Adams & Co. 

MANUFACTURERS & IMPORTERS OF 

BRUSHES, 

75 Beekman Street, New York. 



BUSINESS ESTABLISHED, 1807. 



Gold Medal awarded 1841, 

THE ONLY ONE EVER GIVEN FOR BRUSHES; 

ALSO, 

Silver Medals at various dates. 



J. J. ADAMS & Co. are extensively engaged in the manufacture 
of Staple kinds of Brushes, giving attention to this business in its various 
branches. 

The usual kinds, such as Paint, Whitewash, Varnish, Horse, 
Scrubbing, Shoe, &c, Brushes, are made in large quantities, of various 
grades, each size and grade being stamped with its own number and 
designation, and kept distinct and uniform in quality, so that any kind 
can be ordered by mail if once found to suit. 

J. J. A. & Co. also import Russia Bristles and other materials 
used in the manufacture of their Brushes, this giving them the advantage 
of lowest cost for their productions. 

Great care taken in packing for distant places or export. 

KIP No Tampico Hemp or other substitute for bristles used in the 
Adams Brushes. 

HP" No traveling agents employed by this firm. 









^J 



J. J. ADAMS & CO. 



The Adams' Brush business was commenced in 1807 by John W. 
Adams, who is now living in his native town near Boston, Mass., at the- 
advanced age of ninety-five years. Previous to the above date, Brushes 
had been imported principally from England, and it was generally sup- 
posed that good Brushes for Painting, Whitewashing, Household, and 
Personal use could not be made in this country. The bristles used in 
the manufacture had to be imported from Russia, and the English manu- 
facturers being dependent on the same source for their supplies, the 
important points to be attained were to prepare the materials and fasten 
them in the form best adapted for the uses intended. Mr. Adams soon 
succeeded in producing good serviceable brushes of the above kinds, and 
in a few years the English ones began to disappear from the market, 
leaving the field open for him ancf others who commenced later on in the 
same fine. 

In 1832 Mr. Adams relinquished the business to his son, who had 
all along been familiar with the business in his father's factory, and who 
still continues the present firm of J. J. Adams & Co., now of this city. The 
great changes which have taken place in the manufacture of all kinds of 
wares in common use in this country during the last sixty years, have 
been as marked in the Brush business as any other, and it is generally 
admitted that Mr. Adams has taken the lead in the production of sterling 
kinds of Brushes suited to the increasing demands for all purposes. 

It is also well known that the Adams' Brush business has maintained 
the confidence of all parties who have dealt in the articles produced, and 
retains permanently customers who once become acquainted with the 
goods, the policy followed out being to jrroduce good articles at the lowest 
possible cost, and sell all kinds at fair prices. 

Various premiums and silver medals have been awarded to Mr. 
Adams at different fairs for the best specimens of Brushes exhibited, and 
in 1841 the committee of the fair that year in Boston awarded the large 
gold medal of the Mechanics' Association for valuable improvements, as 
follows, viz. : 

"The Committee have examined the very full and splendid assort- 
ment of Brushes offered by Mr. J. J. Adams, containing all the varieties 
from the sash-tool of the painter to the most beautiful Hair-Brush for the 
toilet. The Committee deem it proper to make a few observations on 
the great improvement made in this branch of American manufactures 
by Mr. Adams. It is but a few years since the greater part of the- 
Brushes used in the country were imported, and a good Hair or Cloth 
Brush could not be had unless it were of English or Prench manufacture, 
but Mr. Adams has combined in the manufacture of his Brushes all the 
solidity of the English with the taste and beauty of the French. The 
Committee notice particularly specimens of Hair, Cloth, and Flesh Brushes 
superior to any heretofore imported, common Floor-Brushes which they 
have had in iise in the halls, and which appear to be a first-rate article 
for service. 

" The specimens of Paint Brushes deserve the highest commendation ; 
but to notice every article deserving praise would require more space 
than can conveniently be spared. The Committee are of opinion that 
Mr. Adams has made such improvements in the manufacture of Brushes 
as would entitle him to the highest award proffered by this government."' 

Award — A Gold Medal. 



zphcezxtix: ■wobks. 

JOHN SAVERY'S SONS, 

IRON POUNDERS AND MANUFACTURERS OF 

Iron Hollow Ware, Stoves, Farmers' Boilers, 

&c, &c. 
Office and Warehouse, 97 Beekman Street. 



For half a century this house has been successfully engaged in the 
manufacture of Hollow Ware, and other castings in their line of business. 
They first occupied a store at 113 Beekman Street ; afterward moving 
to 54 Cliff Street, and for the past fourteen years have had their office 
and warehouse at 97 Beekman Street. 

This firm has the well-deserved reputation of making the most per- 
fect castings in their line of business ; which has been obtained by giving 
the closest attention to details, taking advantage of every improvement 
suggested by themselves or others, personally inspecting and superin- 
tending their works, and by using only first-class materials. 

The works of this old and well-known house are located in Jersey 
City, on the line of the N. J. R. R. and Transportation Company, about a 
mile from the ferry. The foundery, with the carpenter, pattern, black- 
smith, mounting, painting, and bronzing shops, gives employment to 
upward of one hundred persons. 

John Savery, a pioneer in developing American manufactures, was 
the founder and originator of this concern. He was born in Carver, Ply- 
mouth County, Massachusetts, in 1789, learning his trade as a molder in 
his native town, afterward becoming a partner in the works where he 
served his apprenticeship, the style of the house being John Savery & 
Co. This establishment made shot which was furnished the U. S. 
frigate Constitution, and was used in her memorable engagement with the 
Guerriere. In fact, John Savery was the first person who succeeded in 
making at that foundery a perfect cannon ball. In 1829 he united with 
him his brother-in-law, continuing the same business in Albany, N. Y. 
This partnership was succeeded by Savery, Shaw & Co. In 1838, he 
with his son William commenced business in Jersey City and New York 
City, under the firm name of John Sayery & Son. In July, 1845, the 
works were destroyed by fire, involving a total loss of flasks, patterns, 
tools, and machinery. The foundery was immediately rebuilt, and with 
such energy was the work prosecuted that business was resumed in Octo- 
ber of the same year. On January 1, 1846, Alexander Law, son-in-law 
of John Savery, was admitted, and the style of the house became John 
Savery & Sons. On the death of John Savery in 1853, the style was 
changed to John Savery's Sons, his son William becoming the senior 
partner. Other partners have since been admitted, viz : George W. 
Mason, G. W. Van Schaack, and William E. Savery. 



DIETZ & CO., 
Manufacturers and Importers of Lamps, 

AND DEALERS IN ALL ARTICLES 

APPERTAINING TO THE LAMP TRADE. 

Manufactory and Salesroom, 132 and 134 William St. (rear). New York. 



This is the oldest house in the United States engaged in the manu- 
facture of Kerosene Lamps, and was established by Dietz, Bros. & Co., at 
No. 13 John Street, in the year 1840. When Washington Stores were 
first built, the firm removed to 139 William Street, and in 1847 to their 
present premises. Branch houses in London and California give them 
the advantages of the great distributing centers of the old as well as the 
new world, and their products find profitable markets throughout America, 
Europe, China, Japan, Cuba, South America, Central India, etc. Such a 
large and wide-spread demand for their goods is alone sufficient evidence 
of the high reputation of their house, and of their ability to cope with 
competitors wherever to be found. An important secret also in their 
success, is that they manufacture all their own goods, and consequently 
possess great advantage over those who are really only dealers. The 
first patent granted in Washington for a Kerosene Lamp was entered by 
this firm, and was their own invention. An experience of twenty-eight 
years, with undeviating adherence to the tenets of the golden motto, 
" Honesty, industry, and integrity," coupled with talent and good judg- 
ment in conforming to the taste of the age and the requirements of the 
trade, has secured for them the confidence of their customers, and has 
enabled them to attain the highest reputation for perfection of workman- 
ship and beauty of design in all their products. The Dietz Bros, are 
types of the good old-fashioned school of merchants to which their father 
belonged, unpretending in manner, straightforward and reliable in all 
their dealings. 




president. 



CAM-S.lr 






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v - S <V V. 




MA^ Y irrAi"rrn ions 
11W$ ^IMWXlWAt ST. 

5 jy^iXlZtni/£, )) 





THE NATIONAL STOVE WORKS. 



This extensive establishment had its origin in 1840, when 
Mr. W. S. Whitney erected a small foundery at Peekskill, about 40 
miles from New York, upon the site of the works whose history we 
now sketch. The operations ot the firm were confined to the 
manufacture of some three or four styles of stoves, which were sent 
by sloops to the warehouse of the firm at New York. Since then 
the business of the house has steadily grown, though slowly at first, 
the style of the firm having been changed successively to Whitney 
& Brown, Whitney, Sanford & Co., and Sanford, Truslow & 
Co. Finally, in 1865, the business having become extensive, and 
the firm being desirous to admit some of their faithful employes to 
a share, the concern was resolved into a corporation, under the title 
by which it is now known. 

The President is Mr. Watson Sanford, a gentleman of large 
experience, who gave to the house the advantage of his energy and 
inventive ability, in the year 1853. One of his inventions, the well- 
known " Sanford's Challenge Hot-Air Heaters," is very exten- 
sively used through the United States, and their manufacture forms 
an important part of the business of the Company. 

The other officers of the Company are Mr. John Truslow, 
Vice-President, who joined the house in 1858, and Mr. Samuel S. 
Utter, Secretary and Treasurer. From the small beginnings 
already noted, the house has expanded into one which gives employ- 
ment to nearly 200 men ; — the catalogue, which, at the first, com- 
prised but three or four varieties of Stoves, now includes an assort- 
ment of nearly 100 kinds of Cooking Stoves, Cooking Ranges,, 
Parlor Stoves, Hot- Air Furnaces, &c, and a variety of Hollow- Ware, 
suited to the wants of all people. This Company is a true type of 
a New York house, full of energy and progress, not only in the 
extent of sales, but in the character of the wares, which are con- 
stantly improving on the past ; so that now their Stove6 are very 
different, and far more useful and elegant than when this establish- 
ment first began its career. 



P. LOEILLAED. 
TOBACCO AND SNUFFS, 

16 CHAMBERS STREET, NEW YORK. 



The original Lorillard family, which consisted of the father, 
Pierre Lorillard, and his two sons, Pierre and George, the mother 
being dead, were driven from France at the time of the massacre of St. 
Bartholomew, and coming to this country, settled in New York. The 
family was a wealthy one for those days, Mr. Pierre Lorillard being 
worth some ten or twelve thousand dollars. The youngest son, Pierre, 
commenced the Tobacco business about the year 1760. At thirty years 
of age he died, leaving his widow and three sons, Peter, Jacob, and 
George, the business being carried on by the widow until the sons were 
old enough to attend to it. Widow Lorillard married a Daniel 
Hdlsejian, and for a few years the business was conducted under his 
name. 

The two sons, Peter and George, inherited quite a handsome 
fortune from their father, and when they succeeded to his business, the 
style of the firm became P. & G. Lorillard. It continued thus for a 
number of years, when George died, leaving no children behind, but 
possessed of a large fortune. Peter died leaving one son, who continued 
the business with his uncle Georoe until his uncle died, when the busi- 
ness came into his hands, and was conducted under the name of 
Peter Lorillard. A few years ago he retired from the business in 
favor of his two sons, Peter and George, and the House is again known 
as that of P. & G. Lorillard. The Lorillards started the business 
upon a small scale, but with the determination of always furnishing their 
customers with a good article. 

As the country became more thickly populated, business gradually 
increased until it grew to be of enormous dimensions, and to-day it stands 
at the head of all the manufactories of its kind in the world. The repu- 
tation which it early and honestly acquired, and the monopoly which it 
so long enjoyed, gave it a position and influence among those who deal 
in tobacco which nothing has been able to shake or weaken during the 
century in which it has been in operation. 

This house has its buyers and agents in all the prominent fields, 
besides controlling a vast amount of improved machinery, and about 600 
hands ; it has facilities surpassed by none. These goods command a 
large foreign trade which is constantly growing ; Canada consumes 
largely ; the West Indies, to a great extent ; in portions of South America, 
Germany, China, and Japan, they are becoming rapidly introduced, and 
meet with great favor. It is the largest Tobacco House in America, if 
not in the world, yielding to the Government in the form of revenue, in 
1807, about a million and a quarter dollars. 



THE SINGEK MANUFACTUEING COMPANY, 



SUCCESSORS TO 



I. M. SINGER. & CO.. 



The " Singer " Sewing-Machine, "which is the fountain from 
which has sprung the immense Corporation whose name heads this 
page, had a definite date in the month of September, 1850. At 
that time Mr. Isaac M. Singer had invented and put in practical 
operation the Sewing-Machine, which has rendered his' name a 
■" household word " throughout Christendom. The Singer Machines 
were used advantageously from the very outset ; and, notwithstand- 
ing improvements and modifications have been made from time to 
time, the original principles upon which the Machines were con- 
structed have never been superseded. The manufacture and sale 
of these Machines have known no interruption since they were first 
introduced ; and for manufacturing purposes, as well as for family 
use, noneghave been more popular. In 1863, the firm of I. M.|Singer 
& Co. wasjjdissolved, andj a Joint Stock|Company, known Jas| the 
Singer Manufacturing Company, was formed jto|continue^ the 
business. This Company has achieved an unparalleled success, and 
stands to-day without a peer in the Sewing-Machine business. gThe 
following extract from one of our most reliable metropolitan journals, 
will convey a more fitting idea of the importance and magnitude of 
this Company, than any words which we can employ for the pur- 
pose : 



SEWING-MACHINE FACTS. 



The following interesting statistics we gather from the quarterly returns,, 
made, under oath, by the several manufacturers of sewing-machines throughout the 
United States. The figures which we present, and which we have been at some 
pains to collect, show, at a glance, the wonderful growth and great importance of 
this branch of American manufactures. It will be observed, that one Company alone 
has produced and sold within the year, over forty-three thousand machines. It is 
somewhat remarkable, that during the recent stagnation in trade, this business has 
been but slightly, if at all, affected. But below are the figures, in detail : 

Sewing -Machines Manufactured and Sold, as per quarterly returns, for the year 
ending June 10, 1867. 



Double Thread Machines. 



FIRST SECOND THIRD FOURTH 
QUARTER. QUARTER. QUARTER. QUARTER. 



The Singer Manufacturing Co 

The Wheeler & Wilson Manul. Co. 

The Grover and Baker S. M. Co 

The Howe Machine Co 

The Florence S. M. Co 

The Weed Sewing M. Co 

The Eliptic Sewing M. Co 

The JStna Sewing M. Co 

The Finkle & Lyon S. M. Co 

The Empire Sewing M. Co 

The Leavitt Sewing M. Co 



Total Double Thread Machines. 



Single Thread Machines. 



The Wilcox and Gibbs S. M. Co 

The Shaw & Clark S. M. Co , 

The Goodspeed & Wyman Sewing Machine Co. 



Total Single Thread Machines. 



9,514 

8,897 

7,491 

1,995 

2,813 

377 

504 

806 

443 

512 

285 



14,164 

11,852 

8,796 

2,820 

3,126 

854 

1,727 

791 

660 

579 

270 



3,120 
888 
886 



5,180 
946 
524 



8,996 

8,739 

7,091 

2,726 

2,039 

899 

331 

718 

771 

476 

198 



2,507 
599 
314 



10,379 

8,567 

9,621 

5,512 

2,556 

1,508 

623 

643 

614 

554 



3,345 
259 
402 



43,052 
38,055 
32,999 
11,053 
10,534 
3,638 
3,185 
2,958 
2,488 
2,121 
1,051 

151,135 



14,152 
2,692 
2,126 



The foregoing facts and figures we find in the Financial Chronicle, of the 7th instant. About a 
year or so ago, as our readers will remember, we published a series of articles descriptive of some of 
the great manufacturing interests in this country. We then selected and described, as the represen- 
tative and leading concern in the department of Sewing-Machines, the immense establishment of 
the Singer Manufacturing Company, located in this city, and we are now pleased to find that we 
did not in the least exaggerate or over-estimate the importance of the Company in question. It is 
noteworthy and somewhat suggestive, that the Singer Company, who did not, as we understand , 
take the trouble of visiting, or even sending, their machines to the Paris Exposition— who seemingly 
do not in the least care for either gold medals or red ribbons, and whose name is rarely seen in print- 
should, nevertheless, eclipse all other similar concerns in the magnitude of their business. There is, 
of course, a reason for all this, but we leave our readers to find that out for themselves.— flow? 
Journal 




As one of the Pioneer and leading Piano-Forte establishments in the United 
States, we respectfully present our claims to the intelligent reader. The first Piano 
hearing our trade-mark was finished in 1823, since which time we have made and 
sold over 32,000 instruments. "We now offer for inspection 65 First Premiums, 
which we have received in our own Country and in Europe for the superiority of our 
manufacture over nil competitors. To-day, the Chickering Piano stands pre-eminent 
in the world. The last and greatest Triumph was obtained at the Exposition 
Universelle, when we were awarded a First Gold Medal and the Cross of the 
Legion of Honor, our house being the only one so honored in competition. Among 
the hundreds of written Testimonials we have received from such Artists as Liszt, 
Thdberg, Gottsclialk, Wehli, Jaell, Hitter, De Meyer, Halle, Moschelles, Plaidy, Y. Von 
Arnold, Reinecke, Arabella G-oddard, Hoffman, Poznanski, &c, we present that of 
the Abbe Franz Liszt, the only one he has ever accorded to any Piano manufacturer 
in the world. 

[translation.] 

" Messrs. Chickerixg : — It is very agreeable to me to add my name to the 
concert of praises of which your Pianos are the object. 

To be just, I must declare them perfect, and perfcetissimes (superlatively perfect). 
There is no quality which is foreign to them. Your instruments possess in the 
supreme degree, nobility and power of tone, elasticity and security of touch, harmony, 
brilliancy, solidity, charms, and prestige ; and thus offer a harmonious ensemble of 
perfection to the exclusion of all defects. 

Pianists of the least pretensions will find means of drawing from them agreeable 
effects ; and in face of such products — which truly do honor to the art of the con- 
struction of instruments — the role of the critic is as simple as that of the public ; the 
one has but to applaud them conscientiously and with entire satisfaction, and the 
other but to procure them in the same manner. In congratulating you sincerely 
upon the great and decisive success obtained at the Exposition at Paris, I am pleased 
to anticipate the hippy continuation of the same in all places where your Pianos wjil 
be heard, and I beg that you accept, sirs, the expression of my most distinguished 
sentiments of esteem and consideration. 

(Signed), F. LISZT. 

Rome, December 26th, 1867." 

The social importance of the Piano-Forte is patent to the world, and next to the 
Church, we claim that it is the great refining influence in the family circle. In the 
future as the past, by the faithfulness of our work, we shall endeavor to promote this 
influence. 



WAEEEOOMS, 
No. 652 

BROADWAY, 

NEW YOBK. 




WAEEEOOMS, 
No. 24,6 

WASHINGTON ST., 

BOSTON, 



ALDWIN & CO., 



Manufacturers of 



JEWELRY, 



In all its Branches 



WATCH CASES AND WATCHES, 

NEWARK, N. J., 
And 192 Broadway, cor. John St. New York. 



This is the oldest Manufacturing Jewelry House in this Country.. 

Its history is identified with that of this City as well as the City 
of Newark, N. J., where the house was founded, and where it has 
been in successful operation for a period of time extending over half 
a century. 

During all this time the various firms of Tatlok & Baldwin, 
Taylor, Baldwin & Company, and Baldwin & Company have 
been favorably known to dealers generally throughout |the United 
States. 

The quality of their goods, the artistic skill and taste displayed 
in their designs, their long experience and intimate acquaintance 
with the wants of the trade, place them in the front rank of Manu- 
facturing Jewelers. 

The Warerooms of Baldwin & Company are at 192 Broadway, 
corner of John Street, N. Y. 



ZMHILIjS Sc gibb, 



IMPORTERS OF 



White Goods, Linens, Laces, 

EMBROIDERIES, &c, 



412 BROADWAY, NEW YORK. 



Mills & G-ibb. — This is a young house, having commenced in April, 
1865, immediately after the close of the war. It has grown with great 
rapidity, and now occupies a leading position. 

The secret of the success of this house may be stated in two words ; 
" Honesty and Industry." . 



'*"*J§The partners are both young, active men, who superintend their own 
business, and possess a thorough knowledge of it in all its branches, 
having been fifteen years foreign buyers for one of the largest houses 
in this city. 



B. W. MERRIAM & CO., 

No. 577 Broadway, N. Y. 



In a business point of view, forty-five years is along way to look 
back, and there are few commercial men who, after reviewing- such a 
period of time, but can learn much that will prove beneficial to their 
future career. 

Messrs. B. W. Merriam & Company, who, for energy, ability, and 
inflexibility of purpose are enrolled among the most favored of the land, 
commenced the looking-glass business in this city nearly half a centUM 
ao-o, and since that time, wonderful changes have taken place in the trade 
as well as in the improvements of the metropolis. Their present place of 
business, in that early day, was in the far-away suburbs of the town ; in 
fact, green fields and pleasant country roads were the rule instead of the 
exception in that locality. How changed is everything now! The great 
city stretches miles beyond, and blocks of brick and mortar usurp the 
domain that then yielded up to flowers and foliage, garden-plats, thrifty 
" Bouwerys" and occasionally to swamp and morass, or rocky and unpro- 
ductive hill-sides. 

The firm of B. W. Merriam & Co. have kept pace with the mutations 
takino- place around them; and they have from time to time added 
increased facilities to their manufacturing as well as their mercantile 
interests. They are extensively known throughout the country as the 
largest dealers' in looking-glasses of any other houses on this continent. 
The stock kept by them is of the most select kind, and the assortment is 
very extensive and complete in the lines of pier, mantel, and oval mir- 
"rors; photograph and picture frames of every style and finish ; looking- 
glass plates; gilt, rosewood, and every variety of mouldings, gold-leaf, 
gilder's materials, window cornices, all patterns, gilt and bronze brackets, 
marble slabs, fancy-gilt center-tables and flower-stands, rustic frames of 
every device, and" in fact the most multifarious descriptions of goods 
embraced in the several classes of elegant, unit pie, and attractive in the 
various departments of their immense trade. 

The manufacturing department of the house above described is very 
complete in all its appointments, and they are enabled to turn out the 
most beautiful styles of goods that can be found anywhere this side of 
the Atlantic, and which will also bear favorable comparison with the 
productions of France, Great Britain, or the gorgeous designs of the 
Orientals. The lions.' of P>. W. Merriam & Company have a large man- 
ufactory, where immense quantities of lumber are weekly consumed, and 
every article is manufactured under their especial direction. 

There are mirrors in the store at 577 BEOA.DWAT that reflect the 
human form with such perfection, that the divine afflatus, or spiritual 
presence, seems really embodied for the moment in the insensible glass. 
Ladies can hold these mirrors up to nature, and realize that all the charms 
of youth, beauty, and surpassing loveliness will be truthfully and accu- 
rately portrayed ; likewise the fairest portion of creation may, at least, 
see their own exterior as faithfully as it can be seen by the multitude 
who criticise their features. 




t? 



V 



X 



x 



CHEMICALS 



POWBES & WEIGHTMAN, 
PHILADELPHIA, 

AND 

60 CEDAR STREET, NEW YORK 



The manufacture of Chemicals in this country may be said to date 
from the war of 1812. The commercial restrictions which accompanied 
it caused such a scarcity and dearness of Chemicals that many persons — 
generally foreigners, who had been trained to Chemistry and Pharmacy 
at home — were stimulated to attempt the preparation of the more neces- 
sary articles. Among those men was Abraham Kunzi, a Swiss, who had 
been an apothecary in his own country. He came, early in the century, 
to Philadelphia, and was employed in the White Lead and Oil Vitrol 
Works already established there. He finally formed a partnership with 
John Parr, a young Englishman, who had graduated from one of the 
best retail drug stores in London. The skill, enterprise, and integrity 
with which the business of Farr & Kunzi was conducted rendered the 
firm prosperous, and the circumstances of the times enabled them to lay 
the foundation of the most extensive Chemical Works in America. 

The concern, thus founded by Farr & Kusrzi, is now owned and con- 
ducted by their pupils and successors, the well-known Powers & Weight- 
man, in whose hands it has become one of the largest Chemical Establish, 
ments in the world. The business of the house extends to the cities and 
large towns of the whole country, and its reputation is unsurpassed for 
the purity and beauty of its Chemicals, and for the fairness and liberality 
of its dealings. At their laboratory, at Ninth and Parish Streets, Phila. 
delphia, of which an engraving presents a view, they manufacture their 
staple article, Sulphate of Quinia, with Morphia, Calomel, Chloroform, 
Strychnia, the Salts of Iron, Mercury, and Iodine, Acetic and Tartaric 
Acids, and the other standard Chemicals of the United States' Pharmaco- 
pcea, together with the important list of Chemicals demanded by the new 
art of photography. In the suburbs of Philadelpha, at Schuylkill Falls, 
they have a larger works, where they manufacture the heavy Chemicals 
used in the arts : Oil of Vitrol, Nitric and Muriatic Acids, Alum, Cop- 
peras, Blue Vitrol, Epsom Salts, &c. A few years since, following the 
inevitable tendency of trade, they opened a house in the metropolis, and 
the large proportion of the trade which finds its convenient center in New 
York now supplies itself from their warehouse at No. 60 Cedar Street. 



F B. BETTS & CO., 
No. 349 BKOADWAY. 



This Saddlery House, we believe the oldest in the United States, 
was established in 1816, and the present members are successors to 
Smith & Wright ; Smith, Wright & Co. ; Wright, Betts & Co. ; and Betts, 
Nichols & Co. 

Of the present firm, E. Van Antwerp commenced with the house of 
Smith & Wright, in 1818, and has been a partner in all the houses from 
that time until the present, with the exception of about four years. 
P. B. Betts commenced in 1831, now thirty-six years, without any inter- 
mission. S. A. Church commenced in 1830, and has been interested the 
whole pariod, with the exception of six years. 

The present firm continue to supply, as in former years, their old 
friends, and all others who desire to purchase goods in their line, as good 
in quality and reasonable in price as can be found elsewhere. 

There is, perhaps, no other house that keeps so full and general an 
assortment in this line of business. 

Men's Saddles, Ladies' Saddles, 

Harness, Bridles and Martingales, 

Saddle-Bags, Whips and Trunks, 

Girths and Surcingles, Saddlery, Hardware, etc, 

form the leading features in the manufactures of this House, as well as 
all kinds of material used by Saddlers, Shoemakers, and Carriage Manu- 
facturers. 

The Retail Department is replete with every description of City 
Goods, fine Harness, Blankets, Whips, &c, being constantly on hand, or 
made to' order. 



CHARLIER 
FRENCH AND ENGLISH INSTITUTE 

FOR YOUNG GENTLEMEN, 
Boarding and Day School, Classical and Commercial, 

Nos. 48, 50 & 52 EAST TWENTY-FOURTH STREET, 
Near Madison Park, Between Fourth & Lexington Aves. 



This School is now in its thirteenth year. Its Pupils are to be found at West 
Point, in the Naval Academy, the Army, the Counting- House, many Colleges and 
Professions. 

The studies pursued embrace all the studies necessary for a liberal instruction. 
Pupils can commence when Seven years of age in the Primary Department, and 
continue until they are seventeen or eighteen, ready for their future profession. 

German, Spanish, and French are taught by native teachers. American pupils 
are obliged to speak French, the only way to acquire it in a foreign country. 

Complete obedience, cheerful and prompt obedience, truth in everything, and 
work — such are my rules. 

It is a guiding principle with my assistants and myself to accustom our pupils 
to use their powers of reflection and of reasoning throughout the course of their 
studies. We do not ask them to work beyond their powers, but require strictly the 
performance of their tasks ; in a word, we wish them to exert themselves conscien- 
tiously. 

From James G. King, Banker. 
My son James was with Mr. Charlier for fire years. My son John has been under his chargt fm 
the last eight years, and has just left him to enter College. 

Jt,l V, 1863. j. G KlN( , 

From Gen. J. S. Wadsworth. 
My son James^ias been in Mr. Charlier's School, as a boarding-pupil, for the last eight years. 
Jul V, 1863 - J. S. Wadsworth. 

From Hon. E. Delafield Smith, U. S. District- Attorney. 
PROS'. Elie Charlier : 

Dear Sir — I intrust my son-Harold to you, with confidence. 

Sept. 10, 1861. E. Delafield Smith. 

From D. D. Lord, Lawyer. 

For ten consecutive years my sons were at Mr. Charlier's School— one for six, the other for five yea rs 
Both left him to enter College. 

Jul y, 1866. D. D. Lord. 

From Adrian Iselin, Merchant and Banker. 
For the last ten years my sons have been in Prof. Charlier's School. One has left him to enter my 
counting-room, one to go to College; the two youngest are yet with him. A. Iselin. 

EL.IE CHARLIER, Director. 

New York, April, 1868. 



The United States is emphatically the land of schools. No where, Prussia 
excepted, are the great masses of the people b?tter instructed. New York, especially, 
with its one hundred and fifty public schools, two thousand teachers, and a budget 
of two and a half millions, can hardly be excelled. 

Yet there is room for numerous private institutions ; and at their head justly 
stands that founded by Prof. Elie Charlier. Opened thirteen years ago, with only 
seven pupils, for years it has numbered over two hundred — as many as can be 
received. 

Such success shows what can be done in New York by a man of talent and 
energy. Elie Charlier, born in 1827, is the son of a pious and distinguished 
clergyman of the Huguenot French Church, who, as usual, had a numerous family 
and a moderate fortune. However, wisely determining that a superior education 
is in itself a mine of wealth and happiness, he procured for his son the best teachers 
in France and Switzerland : Agassiz, Guyot, Adolphe Monod, Merle d'Aubigne, 
were his professors. 

After passing through the strict examinations required by French law, and 
teaching four years in a College, young Charlier, finding his native country too 
crowded, emigrated to the United States. 

In 1852 he landed in this city, with f 36 and some letters of introduction to 
well-known New Yorkers. Three weeks after, he was teaching in Mr. Peuquet's 
school, where he remained for three years. During that time he learned the English 
language, became acquainted with our schools, and made numerous personal friends. 

In 1855 he opened his Institute in the same building it still occupies, but which 
has been considerably enlarged. 

Professor Charlier has acquired an independent fortune, and could retire in 
well-earned repose. A love for his profession, and the gratifying evidences that his 
conscientious endeavors to fulfill his important mission are crowned with success, will 
induce him to labor on for many years to come, if health and strength are continued 
to be vouchsafed to him. 

His example has exerted a powerful influence over the private schools of New 
York, and he undoubtedly merits the lasting gratitude" of parents for the deep 
interest he has always taken in the religious as well as secular training of the pupils 
placed under his guidance and control. 

The avenues to wealth are so numerous in the United States, that few are Avill- 
ing to submit to the trials of a teacher's life, unless forced by circumstances. It is 
time we should have professional teachers who may stamp our growing generation, 
as Dr. Arnold did his " Rugby boys," and raise yet higher the mental and moral 
standard of this noble country. 



RUNK & WHITE, 

Manufacturers and Jobbers of 

Youths, Boys, and Children's Clothing. 

398 BROADWAY, CORNER OF WALKER STREET. 



This house, now known as the "Pioneer" in this particular branch of the 
Clothing business, was established in the year 1850, by its present senior member 
Mr. William T. Runk, at the corner of Barclay and Church Streets. 

For some fifteen years prior to its formation, its founder had been successfully 
conducting an extensive establishment both in the custom and ready-made 
line, chiefly catering to the wants of Men and Youths. The "Juvenile" 
Department of this business was then in its incipiency ; indeed, so little attention 
had been paid to the wants and necessities of the " rising generatien," that the 
parent to meet the demand of his child, was forced to await the slow process of the 
Custom-room, or the still more precarious one, of resorting to " Home Manufac- 
ture." Scarcely one Clothier in twenty throughout the country could be found 
prepared to meet an immediate demand of this kind. This fact strongly presenting 
itself to the mind of Mr. Runk, produced the conviction that the only remedy for 
this pressing need, laid in the establishment of a business, separately devoted to 
its interest. With this view, bending his whole energies to the accomplishment of 
his work, he was enabled at the end of twelve months to find the enterprise a fixed 
fact. He now (1854) associated with him Mr. Edward Smith, also, a practical 
Clothier, under the firm name of Runk & Smith, and with equal success the busi- 
ness was conducted for a period of three years, at the end of which time Smith 
retired, and formed a new house. 

The rapid growth of this business now demanded more room, and greater 
facilities than was afforded in the Barclay Street establishment. To secure this, Mr* 



Runk removed in 1858, to the marble store, 116 Duane Street, occupying three 
spacious lofts, each 25x110 feet. Here a new firm was formed, having associated 
with him Mr. Joseph I. Barnum, under the firm name of Wm. T. Runk & 
Company. Mr. Barnum had been 'educated a " Clothier," having had an experi- 
ence of some ten years in the well-known house of Devlin & Company. 

In January, 1862, this firm was dissolved by the withdrawal of Mr. Barnum 
who has since remained with the house, and the present firm was formed. Mr. 
Charles J. White, whose early years had been spent in the retail establishment of 
Mr. Runk, but who now had become a successful " retailer" himself, entered the firm 
— bringing with him his ripened experience ; a new era was soon inaugurated in the 
history of Boys' Clothing. After two more years of successful trading, it was found 
that the already commodious Warerooms were far too small to meet the demands of 
their steadily inci-easing business, and in 1864 the firm removed to their present con- 
venient and elegant located Warerooms, on the south-east corner of Broadway and 
Walker Street. 

These premises are spacious, the main Salesroom being one hundred and 
seventy-five feet in depth, by a breadth of 30 feet, extending from Broadway 
through to Cortlandt Alley, and containing the office of the firm. The two floors 
above comprises the Cutting Department, and is devoted exclusively to manu- 
facturing purposes, while the department for the receipt and shipment of all goods 
is on the first floor of the building on Cortlandt Alley. The number of its 
employees, both male and female, in and out of the building, amount in busy seasons 
to about 1,000 persons. 

A branch of this house was established in Chicago in 1859, which is also doing 
a large and flourishing retail cash business. 

While Messrs. Runk & White have ever stood foremost, both in the magni- 
tude of production, excellence of quality, and variety of their styles, their charac- 
ter and reputation for mercantile integrity has also been one of the largest elements 
of their success. 



C. A. ZOEBISCH & SONS, 

Importers of and Wholesale Dealers in 

Musical Instruments, Strings, &c, 

Wholesale Depot of 

C. F. MARTIN'S CELEBRATED GUITARS, 

No. 46 MAIDEN LANE, NEW YORK. 

All the newest styles of Brass and German Silver Instruments constantly 
on hand or made to order. 



THisJHouse, which has an uninterrupted experience of twenty-five 
years, and a thorough acquaintance with European manufactures, main- 
tains the high reputation it has always enjoyed. Being practical Instru- 
ment Makers, every Instrument, before issuing from the firm, is subject 
to a thorough examination. The celebrated " Martin " Guitar forms 
one of the leading staples of the stock offered for sale, a wholesale 
agency having been established with these prominent dealers. 

The numerous varieties of Instruments and Merchandise required 
is this complicated branch of trade, can be found in abundance, and of the 
first quality, at C. A. Zoebisch & Sons, Maiden Lane. 



MABIE, TODD & CO., 

180 BEOADWAY, 



MANUFACTURERS OF 



Gold Pens and Pencil Cases, 



The manufacture of Gold Pens is comparatively a modern 
innovation. Their use in the United States dates back, however, 
for a period of twenty-five years, when their introduction met and 
successfully contended with the prejudices common to all new and 
useful improvements. Too many manufacturers have endeavored 
to supplant the good old fashioned quill and steel pen by placing 
uj)on the Market an article, which, though composed of the more 
costly material, proves utterly useless in a very short time, and 
loses even the value it possesses as precious metal until remelted and 
reformed for some useful and legitimate purpose. The superiority 
of the Gold Pen over all others, when skillfully and honestly made, 
is a fact long conceded. The Hon. Daniel Webster once wrote ; 
" It is indeed the only metallic pen worth using." 

Messrs. Mabie, Todd & Co. manufacture a larger variety, perhaps, 
than any other house in the country, and have obtained a repu- 
tation for the most reliable, durable, and pure goods. Mr. Mabie, 
the senior partner, with an experience of thirty-five years, is 
directly connected with the manufactory, and gives the Pencil Case 
department his entire time and attention. 

Of the Gold Pen department, Mr. J. S. Bard, one of the junior 
partners, has had full charge for the past fifteen years, and an expe- 
rience of much longer time. Only the most improved and costly 
machinery and the finest skilled labor are employed by this house, 
added to which a conscientious adherence to the principles of honor 
and integrity in all their dealings, renders it a fait accompli that 
they maintain the foremost position among the manufacturers ot 
Gold Pens and Pencil Cases in the United States. 



<S\ sS^Afe^! 










Ma ^ufacturK rS 




Csr ©jfcl2 <& ^^^^^s^fM^ ^tt* CASES ) 




OF EVERY DESCRIPTION 

in iderLi Cen ^ of H p^OODYEAR. 
ISO BflOAIIWAY^ 



Jno.Mabie . 
H.H.Todd. 








J.S.Bard. 
Jno.M? Govern. 



H. B. CLAFLIN, & CO., 

Corners of Church and Worth Streets and West Broadway. 



The house of H. B. Claflin & Co., dates back a quarter of a century, 
nor during this long period has there been any material change in the 
firm, the present members of which are H. B. Claflin, E. E. Eames, and 
E. W. Bancroft. 

The warehouse of this firm is of yellow Nova Scotia sandstone, built 
in a tasteful style of architecture, and at first sight presents the appear- 
ance of some colossal public institution, as which, in one sense, it may be 
properly regarded. The main building has a front of one hundred feet 
along Church Street, extends along Worth Street for four hundred feet, 
and one hundred feet upon West Broadway. The Extension, Avhich was 
added a few years ago, is one hundred feet long by eighty broad. Each 
building comprises seven stories, inclusive of basements and sub-cellars. 
Thus the whole occupies a ground area of 48,000 square feet, in the 
center of the busiest portion of the city. Seven hundred persons, in all 
capacities are now on the list of employes, who, in the busiest seasons, 
amount to about one thousand. 

The Sub-Cellar of the main building is occupied for the storage of 
duplicate goods, such as Domestics, White Goods, Prints, Cloths, Dress 
Goods, etc., and here, extending also under the sidewalks, are stored 
cases and bales by the thousand, each line having its permanent and 
exclusive department, and the whole being in charge of a person, who, 
owing to the regularity of the system adopted, can, at any time, promptly 
point out any case or bale as required, so that within five minutes of the 
time when the order was given it can be raised by steam elevator to any 
floor where wanted. All goods are received on Worth Street, and by 
three iron slides, each two stories deep, into the sub-cellar, and a memoran- 
dum is kept on the sidewalk of everything thus lowered. At regular 
intervals, throughout the cellar, hundreds of brick and iron pillars 
support the massive structure — the iron being a foot in diameter, and 
those on which the center beams rest are four feet square. Every pillar 
and every aisle intersecting the merchandise are numbered, for the more 
ready guidance of the porters and others. The foundations of the Safe 
of the establishment are laid upon this floor. It is of brick and iron, 
eighteen feet square and two stories high. 



The Basement of the main building has its front on West Broadway, 
and always presents a busy scene. One section is devoted to the Shipping 
Office, which occupies about one-third of the floor. Here all the pack- 
ages, marked and prepared for shipment, are received from the various 
departments, and classified according to the routes for which they are 
destined; such as, for instance, the Erie or Central Radroads, the " Red," 
" Blue," or " White " Lines, the Steamers, the People's Dispatch, and all 
the different Expresses ; and thus they are easily made ready to be 
transported from the house. Here are continually to be found goods for 
every State, north and south, on this continent, from the British Provinces 
to the interior of Texas, to California and the Pacific Coast generally. 
There is scarcely an express wagon, or a train, or a steamship, or. a 
steamboat small or large from the port of New York, which does not 
receive goods from this office. It employs from forty to fifty men, clerks, 
porters, drivers, etc., and in busy times about twenty trucks and wagons 
are in constant requisition. In some seasons eighteen hundred packages 
of all kinds have been shipped from here in one day. The average 
value of a case is perhaps $350, some being much less, while others may 
range as high as $6,000 or $7,000. 

The Flannel Department occupies about two-thirds of this floor. It 
is closely stored with bales of Flannels and Blankets, of all grades, pat- 
terns, and colors, and from all countries. Every new pattern, by whom- 
soever or wheresoever produced is brought from the manufactory first to 
the head of this department, before exhibited in the market elsewhere. 
A particular section is here set apart for each variety ; in fact, a perfect 
system seems to reign throughout this establishment, in every department. 
There are forty men now employed in this division. The whole time of 
one man is here employed in the Marking of goods to be shipped from it : 
while the sole business of another is to Remove all goods so marked into 
the Shipping Office. 

The First (or Street) Floor fronts on Church Street, and occupies the 
whole length and breadth of the main building. It may be regarded as 
the principal Salesroom of the establishment, and here, when business is 
at its height, a thousand men, clerks, salesmen, customers, porters, etc., 
may not unfrequently be seen, engaged in buying, selling, assorting, call- 
ing off, charging, carrying away the goods, etc., etc. This floor comprises 
six departments — that in front being devoted exclusively to Prints ; the 
next in order being the De Laines, the Domestics, the Shawls and Skirts, 
the Dress Goods, domestic and foreign, and the last entirely to Silks. 

The second floor is divided into four sections, viz. : the Cloth, Cloak, 
Lace, and White Goods Departmet. Each section occupies the whole 
breadth of the floor, and the goods are arranged with scrupulous regard 



to system in all particulars. That which is devoted to Cloths embraces a 
full assortment of everything in American and Foreign Woolens, every 
line and grade, inclusive of Kerseys and Jeans especially adapted to the 
Southern Trade, Cloaking Materials for ladies' wear, and heavy importa- 
tions of Italian Cloths and Canvas. There is also in this department a 
very full stock of Linens for men's wear. The number of hands employed 
here is about forty. The Cloak Department is likewise remarkable for the 
fullness and richness of its stock. About one hundred operatives are 
employed in manufacturing for it alone. 

The Department for Lace Goods is also very extensive, occupying 
about one hundred and twenty-five feet of the length, and the whole width 
of this floor, and here are kept a large assortment of all styles of Real 
and Imitation Laces, Embroideries, Handkerchiefs, etc., all obtained direct 
from the manufactories of Great Britain, France, and Belgium. 

The section appropriated for White Goods occupies in length a hund- 
red and fifty feet of the floor, and embraces all styles of Irish, Scotch, 
English, French, and Swiss Goods. Particular attention seems to be here 
paid to the House-Furnishing branch, which includes Linen Sheetings, 
Pillow-Cases, Napkins, Towels, Table-Cloths, damask, brown, and bleached, 
in complete assortment ; Manchester Cottons ; Scotch, French, and Swiss 
Goods, such as Jacconets, Swisses, Check, Cambrics, Drapery, Muslins, 
Lawns, Organdines, Tarletons, Crapes, etc. These are all bought in 
foreign markets by the principal of this department, who pays them 
several visits a year for this purpose. 

One-half of the Third Floor is occupied by that indescribable but 
well-known description of goods which come under the general head of 
Yankee Notions. These Notions include large importations from foreign 
markets, and some idea of the variety may be formed from the fact that 
they comprise over 8,000 different lines of goods, the section composed 
of Buttons alone including about 1,000 kinds, of all materials. Nearly 
1,000 feet of space are devoted exclusively to samples of Buttons, no two 
styles being alike, so that it would be an hour's work merely to name 
them separately, the value ranging from twenty cents to $76 a gross. 
Other lines of goods — such as perfumery, fancy soaps, brushes, combs, 
beads, French and other suspenders, needles, fish-hooks, dress trimmings, 
fans, port-monnaies, ribbons, cutlery, jewelry, &c. — are largely repre- 
sented, — from a wooden tooth-pick to an opera-glass, from a waterfall to 
an umbrella. 

In the Hosiery Department the stock consist of full lines of Domestic 
Hosiery, Shirts, and Drawers, Fancy Woolen Shawls, Hoods, Scarfs, &c- 



also a large assortment of Gloves, Underware, and Hosiery, imported 
direct from Germany, France, and England. 

Ascending to the Fourth Floor, it is seen that the whole length and 
breadth of it is occupied by Boots ami Shoes entirely. This Depart- 
ment alone compares favorably, in magnitude and variety, with any 
wholesale stock of the kind in New York. The assortment comprises 
every vai'iety — every grade — and though but a part of the stock of the 
house, appears like a separate establishment, so comprehensive is its 
s.cale. 

The Fifth Floor of the main building is devoted to the Storage of 
Duplicate Cases and Bales, by the thousand, of Cloths, Laces, Flannel* 
Hosiery. &c. The elevator reaches from the sub-cellar to this floor, and 
such is the celerity of the fulfillment of orders, by its aid and the perfect 
system adopted, that any bale or case required from this loft can within 
a few minutes be selected and stmt down to any appointed place in the 
building. Gas-fixtures are attached to every pillar in this loft and 
throughout the warehouse. 

In 1866, the firm found it necessary to increase their accommodation. 
Accordingly, at that time, an extension was built on to the original 
building, which, also, deserves particular notice as still further illustrating 
the amount of room required to carry on this immense establishment. 
Beginning with the sub-cellar, which is occupied exclusively for the 
storage of Foreign Dress Goods — all of which, by-the-by, are imported by 
special agents of the house residing in France and Germany, the Base- 
ment is reached. This portion of the building, which is auxiliary to the 
Packing Room immediately above it, is used for the Baling-Up of goods 
for customers, and also for the Storage of all sizes of Packing Boxes, 
the yearly value of which would amount to a handsome fortune of itself. 

The First Floor consists of the Packing Room, to which allusion has 
already been made. This department is devoted to charging the goods 
on the books, to Re-calling, to Packing, M irking, and Turning-Out the 
packages for the Strapper. This room immediately adjoins the principal 
salesroom of the main building. It contains nine Entry Desks and long 
lines of Counters and Tills. A hundred men, clerks and others are 
here employed. 

The Second Floor is set apart for the General Offices. These com- 
prise the Desks for the Departments of the Firm ; also, Book-keepers, 
Cashiers, the Post-Office Department, the cost of which alone is about 
$10,000 a year ; and the Law Department. The latter is in charge of 
competent men, of large experience and great energy. 



The Third Floor is appropriated wholly as a Private Business Hall 
for the private use of customers of the house who reside in distant parts 
of the country. Here, inclosed by railings, each one has his private desk, 
furnished with stationery and all the conveniences of the counting-room, 
together with a letter-box, of which he keeps the key, labeled with the 
name of his firm and city. Into this box all letters addressed to him in 
care of the house are placed, being regularly brought from the Post-Office. 
Such letters are daily received here in large numbers. All letters that he 
may write are placed in the Post-Office Box of the house, and duly mailed 
free of expense to him. On all sides are desks designated by the names 
of firms located in Galveston, Houston, New Orleans, Salt Lake City, 
Augusta, Charleston, Mobile, Pittsburg, Louisville, Nashville, Chicago, 
St. Louis, Milwaukie, St. Paul, &c, illustrative at once of the wide range 
and amount of the business of the house, and of the graceful amenities of 
commercial life. This floor, like all others in the building, is lighted with 
gas at every pillar and every desk, steam-heated in cold weather, and well 
supplied with daylight and ventilation. 

The Fourth and Fifth Floors are occupied by the Storage of Dupli- 
cate Packages of Foreign Dress Goods, a steam- worked elevator connect- 
ing all the floors in the building. 

When the character of leading firms like this, composed of men who 
are identified with the trade and commerce of the age, and whose names 
are honored at home and abroad, the good done by active capitalists, — 
merchants who make the best use of their vast wealth, by keeping it in 
circulation, and giving comfortable salaries to the talent and industry 
they so largely employ, cannot but be acknowledged. To be the mere 
possessor of great riches is no credit, in fact rather a discredit, for if that 
means of doing good is not beneficially applied, it is the " talent laid up 
in a napkin," the " light hid under a bushel ;" but if on the contrary the 
fortune be used as a treasure in trust for the benefit of others as well as 
the possessor, then is it an honor and a blessing to him — in full propor- 
tion to its monetary amount. Wealth, like intellect, is a source of misery 
to its owners unless actively and usefully employed. 

Finally, a secret of the immense sales of Claflin & Co. is, that they 
buy in such prodigious quantities — millions in each department — and are, 
therefore, enabled to sell at the lowest profit possible. No dealers of 
less expansive operations could afford such terms as they, who are the 
best living exemplifies of the wisdom of the rule of " large sales, small 
profits, and quick returns." Of course these enormous purchases necessi- 
tate quick disposal of the goods ; else the sudden changes in the market 
would sometimes prove disastrous to such large holders of merchandise 
unsold. Hence, throughout the seven times 48,000 square feet of this 



liive of industry, all, during business hours, is life, bustle and activity ; 
clerks, salesmen, book-keepesr, porters, runners, all are absorbed and 
sanguine — everybody seems instilled with the enterprise of the firm itself; 
and is studiously engaged at his allotted avocation — and thus annnally 
are sold millions in Cloths, millions in Silks, millions in Shawls, millions 
in Laces, millions in each of all the grand departments, swelling up the 
aggregate to the unparalleled sum total of $70,000,000 yearly. 

A gentleman from the South, after completing a survey of the 
stock throughout this great mart, once exclaimed, in amazement : " Why, 
gentlemen, you have enough to supply not only my State, but the whole 
of the South, from Maryland to Texas ;" and certainly, if it were equally, 
divided among the cities of the South, the apportionment would be per- 
ceptible, and the people be much more comfortably and cheaply provided 
than they are. Nor can any one walk through this gre.at New York 
warehouse — the largest in the United States — without being impressed 
with the idea of its high mercantile importance, 



Pardee, Bates & Co., 

Importers & Jobbers of 

SILKS 

AND 

Fancy Dry Goods, 

Cloths, Cassimeres, 

FLANNELS, WHITE GOODS, 
SHAWLS, 

Hosiery, Yankee Notions, &c., 
No. 343 BROADWAY, 



Between Worth and XJt7ai7' Vadf 

Leonard Streets, 1M&W I UKK. 



PARDEE, BATES & CO., 

Importers and Jobbers of 

Silks and Fancy Dry Goods. 

The origin of this house dates back to 1839, when its founder, Mr. 
Frank Vincent, was engaged in the Woolen trade, under the style of 
"Vincent, Beekman & Tittjs," and subsequently, under that of " Vincent, 
Maver & Co." Under his guidance, both of those firms enjoyed unusual 
credit and prosperity. In January, 1854, leaving the Woolen business, 
Mr. Vincent founded a Silk House, associating with himself Cyrus Clark, 
Harris Pardee, and Levi M. Bates, under the firm name of " Vincint, 
Clark & Co., ; ' who removed from their old store in Liberty to No. 20 
Warren Street, there to become the pioneer Silk House of the neighbor- 
hood. This organization lasted five years, when Mr. Vincent retired 
from business, to assume the Presidency of a Savings Institution, and to 
personally supervise the management of his private affairs. 

In January, 1859, the firm of "Clark, Pardee, Bates & Co.," was 
formed, and the business was continued at the same place until the with- 
drawal of Mr. Clark, five years later. 

In January, 1864, Mr. Pardee and Mr. Bates became the heads of 
the present house, which removed to the elegant warehouse, No. 343 
Broadway and No. 90 Leonard Street. There have been a few changes, 
necessarily, since 1804 — prominent among which, may be noticed the 
valuable acquisition of Mr. Lansing C. Moore (of the late time-honored 
firm of Dibblee, Work & Moore), who joined them in January, 1867. 
With the rapid increase of business, it has been found necessary to make 
many additions to the original stock, until at present, nearly all the 
leading branches of Dry Goods are embraced. To give an idea of 
the progress of their trade, we annex a description of their present store. 
The warehouse is of brown-stone, located at 343 Broadway, with a 
width of 32 feet and a depth of 182 feet, connecting with an L, opening 
on Leonard Street, of 15 feet wide, and 40 feet deep. 

The sub-cellar is divided into a store-room and a packing-room ; the 
basement is occupied with a large and commanding stock of Shawls, 
White goods, Cloaks, Mantillas, Promenade Suits, &c, and a complete 
and new assortment of Yankee Notions. The ground or Broadway floor 
is devoted to British, French and German Dress goods ; Silks of all 
kinds; an attractive and elegant stock of Pibbons, Trimmings, Kid 
Gloves, &c., &c.; and the loft comprises a stock of Cloths, Cassimeresi 
Flannels, and goods for Men's wear of all descriptions ; also, a varied 
and choice selection of Hosiery and Gloves. 



Shethar, Nichols & Co., 
No. 548 BROADWAY, NEW YORK, 

Supply Wholesale Dealers throughout the United States with every variety of 
FUR and WOOL HATS. 



The business to which this firm succeeded, was commenced by 
Swift & Nichols, in 1833. 

In 1837, the great tornado which prostrated our commercial world 
would have forced this firm to ask a compromise, had it not been for the 
interposition of two generous friends and benefactors — 'now sleeping in 
honored graves— - William S. Packard and William Augustus White. 
Each was a creditor in a large amount, but when told of an unwillingness 
to compound, and a determination to work out the debts, if the business 
could be kept alive, they replied: "Have your paper drawn up ; we will 
carry you through ! Then come and buy all you want of us, and refer to 
us whenever necessary." It was thus made easy to "rise early and late 
take rest," for years to pay principal and interest; but the debt of gratitude 
y)ill remain while life lasts. 

In 1848, the senior partner associated with himself Mr. Henry A. 
Hurlbut, under the firm name of Swift & Hurlbut, which was subse- 
quently changed— as junior partners were admitted — to Swift, Hurlbut 
& Co., and again to Swift, Dickinson & Co. 

In 1818, a boy from Western New York found bis way to the house, 
and said to the writer of this : " My mother, a widow, has often told me 
of your coming to New York, and how you succeeded. I asked her to 
let me come and try to find a place, and I want to know if you won't take 
me." His manner and the artless simplicity of his story inspired a con- 
fidence, which was strengthened during the most intimate confi- 
dential relations of the intervening years. Ever willing to seek advice 
and learn from his superiors, he did his part well toward extending and 
establishing the business ; and that boy has grown up to become the head 
of the House. 

In 1818, two junior partners Were taken into the firm, and thence- 
forth others were occasionally admitted ; and thus the rale of the house' — 



to advance deserving young men — was carried out. By the way, it may 
here be said that it worked well. 

About the year 1850, the business having grown, and mostly con- 
fined to the supplying of the large wholesale dealers throughout the 
country, two powerful and enterprising competitors arose, with ample 
means. There was an apprehension, with some, that this would mate- 
rially injure the business. The writer of this said, " No, it will not, but 
in many ways do you good. It will stimulate your ingenuity, improve 
your taste, etc., etc., and result in making New York the center of the 
hat trade, as Boston is for shoes. There is room enough for us all ; but 
there should be no room for jealousy." A few years verified this prediction. . 

The improvement in manufacturing is marvelous ! Hats of the 
finest quality are now made entirely by machinery. 

The Waring Hat Manufacturing Company, at Yonkers, is a stock 
company ; but the stockholders, with a single exception, are composed of 
the Messrs. Warings and the partners in the firm of Shethar, Nichols & 
Company. 

The main building, exclusive of engine-room, boilers, machine-shops, 
etc., is 250x45 feet; 5 stories high; engine, 250-horse power. It is sup- 
plied with all kinds of machinery for making 600 to 700 dozen of fur and 
wool hats per day, and employs about 700 persons. 

The sales of the original house, in 1833 and 1834, were about $100,000 
per year ; thenceforth they gradually increased until they reached into 
the millions. 

Now the house sells the entire produce of this great establishment, 
with large consignments from other manufacturers, together with 
extensive consignments of Hatters 1 Furs from the leading house in the 
trade at Frankfort, in Germany, and regular yearly collections of Buffalo 
Bobes, purchased directly from the Indians. 

The foil owing named persons have been interested as partners in 
one or more of the firms named : John H. Swift, Starr Nichols, Henry A. 
Hurlbut, Sherman H. Sterling, John Phillips, George Dickinson, Edward 
Arthur Nichols, Edwin W. Eyerson, Allan I. Ormsbee, Sydney H. Smith, 
Charles H. Coffin. 



JOHN VOGT & CO., 
CHINA, FANCY GOODS, &c, 

502 and 504 Broadway, opposite St. Nicholas Hotel. 



The extensive wholesale house of John Vogt & Co., originated in 
the year 1852. It then occupied the warehouse at 52 John Street, and 
part of the store at 115 and 117 William Street, there continuing until 
the middle of May, 1866, when it was removed to the present spacious 
premises at 502 and 504 Broadway and 44 and 46 Crosby Street, which 
change was required by the vast increase of its business. Early in 
October, 1 866, the warehouse and stock suffered a very heavy loss by fire, 
and the whole edifice underwent a thorough and costly refitting and 
adornment, and the stock was replenished in every department with a 
rare and splendid assortment of all the elegant specimens of goods which 
always characterize this house. 

The dimensions of the warehouse are fifty feet in breadth on Broad- 
way, by a depth of two hundred feet, extending back as far as Crosby Street. 
There is also a wing of the building which affords an additional warehouse 
space of sixty feet long by about thirty in width. Throughout all this 
area, which is thoroughly lighted and ventilated and embraces four floors, 
may now be seen the most magnificent and choice stocks of merchandise, 
the articles being of the latest modern styles, and presenting an endless 
variety of curious, chaste, quaint, and elaborate designs, and combining 
superb beauty of shapes, colors, and embellishments with rare excellence 
of materials and most exquisite workmanship in respect to moulding, 
carving, etc. 

There are four branch houses under this firm name, one of which is 
in Paris, and another in Limoges, France, in which all the decorations of 
the goods are manufactured, the former employing about one hundred 
operatives and the latter no less than three hundred, while the annual 
sales average half a million of dollars. 

In passing through this establishment, one is deeply impressed with 
both its magnitude and elegance, and a correct idea of its character and 
variety can only be formed by a visit of inspection. 



The first floor embraces the Salesroom and Offices, and the stock 
here displayed consists chiefly of Porcelain Ware, decorated in the most 
beautiful style known to modern art, Dinner, Tea, and Toilet Ware, 
with all their accompanying pieces of the most choice and elegant varie- 
ties. 

The second floor contains Bohemian and Belgian Glass Ware, Lava 
Ware, German China, and Parian Marble, comprising productions of art 
abounding in loveliness and refinement, pre-eminently suitable as gifts 
from friendship to friendship. Among these choicest specimens of 
Parian Marbles, copies from the great ancient and modern masters in 
sculpture are constantly to be found : Cupid captive by Venus ; Sybilla, 
with guitar ; Paul and Virginia (from that memorable and pathetic 
story) ; Mounted Amazon attacked by a leopard ; Una and the lion ; 
Ariadne and the lioness ; Cobden, Palmerston, the Greek Slave, in all, 
except facial expression, a faithful copy of Power's " statue, which en- 
chanted the world," so divinely symmetrical are its limnings, and 
reminding one of Byron's lines on the Vatican Apollo — 

" The shaft has just been shot, the arrow bright 
With an immortal's vengeance ; in his eye 
And nostril beautiful disdain and might 
And majesty flash their full lightnings by, 
Developing, in that one glance, the Deity !" 

Also, the statuette of Beatrice, the immortalized love and sorrow of 
illustrious Dante, the face of which no less than attitude, conveys all the 
melancholy beauty of her who inspired his unsurpassed poetry and blame- 
less life ; Santa Filomena, as well ; and last, not least, the unclassical but 
benignant features of Lincoln, the purest and saddest statesman of modern 
times. On this floor also are quaint and humorous specimens of German 
China, as well as abundance of articles in Fancy Porcelain, ingeniously 
designed for decoration and utility, Lava Ware in great variety, White 
and Decorated Porcelain, manufactured only in France, Belgian Crystal 
Glass Ware, and the rare glass of Bohemia in pictorial and gilt designs 
of superb beauty and the finest material. 

The business of this firm extends throughout the United States, 
Canadas, and other British Provinces, South America, and Mexico. 



C. T. RAYNOLDS & CO., 

(ESTABLISHED 1770.) 
Importers and Manufacturers of 

Paints, Oils, Varnishes, and Colors, 
106 and 108 Fulton Street. 



The firm of " C. T. Raynolds & Co./' has had an ancestry of 
more than a century. Several years before the Revolutionary War, 
the founder of the house, William Post, established himself in 
the business of Paints, Oils, &c, at the corner of Fletcher and 
Water Streets. Nor was it long before the increase of business led 
to his taking his son into the firm, which then became known by 
the name of "William Post & Son." The decease of the senior 
partner, which occurred several years after, did not, however, 
result in the dissolution of the firm, which, under various 
auspices, carried on the business under the successive names of 
W. & G-. Post, Butler & Barker, F. Butler, Butler & Ray- 
nolds. At the present time the house is known throughout the 
country as that of "C. T. Raynolds & Co.," and is by far the 
most extensive establishment of its kind in the United States. 

Warehouses. — Their warehouses, 14 Dutch Street, and 106 and 
108 Fulton Street, occupying three lots, present a very fine appear- 
ance ; the buildings on Fulton Street, 50x120 feet, are of white 
marble, five stories high, the cellars and sub-cellars, six in number, 
are devoted to the storage of goods. The first floor is used princi- 
pally for the Counting-Room, the second floor is occupied by the 
Artists' Department, while the remaining floors are set apart for 
packing and putting up Colors dry and in oil. A powerful steam- 
elevator performs the work of hoisting and lowering goods from 
the cellars and different floors of the building. They have three 
factories constantly in operation to furnish goods for the ware- 
houses above alluded to, viz. : The White-Lead, Zinc, and Color 
Factory, the Whitiwj and Putty Factory, in Brooklyn, and the 
Varnish Factory, at Bedford, L. I. Feeling the necessity, from 
the rapid increase of their business and the growth of the country, 
of not depending wholly upon importations of Colors, or upon 
the purchase of home manufactures — and knowing also that to be 
able to vouch for the perfect reliability of their goods, all the 
various colors of Greens, Blues, Yellows, Reds, and Whites, must 
emanate from their own factories — they resolved, not only to produce 



all these goods directly under their own care and supervision from 
the Chemicals, but to manufacture the Chemicals from which these 
Colors themselves are taken. Their extensive Color Factory pos- 
sesses all the Latest improvements, employing a large force of skillful 
and experienced workmen of Europe and America, which, coupled 
with the special attention given to this branch, enables them to furnish 
to the trade Colors of the best and most uniform quality at the 
minimum price. Those familiar and experienced in this business 
will readily realize the absolute importance of uniformity in Paints 
and Colors, and the difficulty often experienced in obtaining this 
result. 

Their White-Lead and Zinc Factory gives abundant evidence 
that superior manufacturing facilities enable them to offer to the 
trade White-Lead and Zinc White, which for body, fineness, 
uniformity, and whiteness, cannot be excelled either on the score of 
quality or of cheapness. Special attention is called to the fact, 
that they import all their French Zinc from La Vieillc Montague 
Co., of Paris, so that no one in America can undersell them or 
place a better article in the market. 

Whiting and Putty. — Their works for the production of these 
goods have been constantly extended to meet the requirements of 
their large trade in this branch. The fact of their using only pure 
Linseed Oil and Whiting in the making of Putty, accounts for 
the satisfaction which this article gives to the public. 

Artist^ Materials. — Messrs. C. T. Raynolds & Co. are, 
without doubt, the most extensive, dealers in Artists' Materials in 
this country. Many of these articles are of their own manufacture, 
and their superior arrangements with the leading European houses 
are such, that a large supply and a most complete assortment of 
these goods, of all the qualities and variety, are furnished dealers 
by this firm on the most advantageous terms. 

Varnish Factory, at Bedford, L. I., occupies ten lots of ground 
and six buildings. The best of talent and a long experience in their 
manufacture, together with the possession of peculiarly superior 
facilities for the importation of Gums, have been instrumental in 
securing the highest reputation for the manufacture of Varnishes. 

REMARKS. 

There is no country in the world were so much Paint is used 
in proportion to its buildings as in the United States ; and as the 
vast resources of the country continue to be so rapidly and profit- 
ably developed, the consumption of Paints and Oils must still 
enormously increase, from the fact of their forming a vital element 
in the construction, preservation, and adornment of almost every 
building erected, and ot the thousands of other objects, great and 
small, that we see everywhere around us. And their production 
must ever prove of great importance to our largest interests while 
such houses as the one above alluded to continue to stimulate, 
encourage, and sustain improvement in these branches of American 
manufacture and industry. 



WALSH, COULTER & CO., 
IMPORTERS AND JOBBERS OF HARDWARE, 

211 PEARL STREET. 

Among the oldest houses connected with the Hardware Trade in 
our City, is the firm of Walsh, Coulter & Company. 

The senior partner of this firm commenced the Hardware business 
in this City in 1831. Tlie present house was established in 1834, under 
the firm of Walsh & Mallory, and was continued subsequently by the 
admission of the junior partners, as Walsh, Mallory & Company, and 
Walsh & Coulter, till 1857, when the present firm was formed. Mr. 
Coulter entered the establishment as a clerk in 1836, and Mr. Wilson 
in 1849, and after receiving their business training in the house, have 
been for many years interested as the active partners in the business. 

The rapid development of the resources of a country like our own, 
has called for continued changes in the character and method of con- 
ducting the various departments of business, and to meet these has been 
the aim and the successful endeavor of this house. 

In the early part of their business life, the Hardware used in this 
country was almost exclusively of foreign production, and the introduc- 
tion of articles of domestic manufacture was mainly effected through com- 
mission houses. With the increase of business, the trade thus became 
divided into the two departments of American and Foreign, and it became 
necessary for the dealer in the interior to complete his purchases by 
selections from houses in each line. Anticipating the direction of business, 
this firm at an early day resolved to combine the two departments, and to 
offer to purchasers a well selected assortment from both sources, and 
they still continue -to maintain a complete stock, from which a Hardware 
dealer can advantageously supply his entire wants in that line. 

Among the American productions which they have been largely 
instrumental in introducing to the public, may be mentioned the article 
of Files. It is over twenty-one years since they first undertook the sale 
of John Rothery's Files. Satisfied with the superior quality of the article, 
they did not hesitate to recommend and warrant them as equal to the 
best English File, then almost exclusively used by our mechanics and 
machinists. The result has been, not onlv an entire indorsement of the 



quality of the articles by all who have used them, but the profitable 
development of a large and important branch of American productive 
industry, — thereby creating a constant demand for the goods which has 
more than kept pace with the successive enlargements of the facilities 
for producing them. John Rothkey's Files continue to sustain their 
reputation as one of, if not the very best Files sold in this market. 

While most of the houses who in earlier times were their neighbors 
and competitors have passed away, and others have sought in different 
quarters what they deemed a better looation for business, this firm 
still continues in the same spot, where for over thirty years past they 
have served their friends ; and furnishes another proof that neither by 
change of location, nor by adventitious aid of adorned premises, ' 
can trade be divertel into new channels, when uprightness, promptness, 
and business ability continue to mark the course of any well- 
established house. 



Ball, Black & Co., 

565 and 567 Broadway, N. Y. 



This house was founded in the year 1810 by Erastus Barton, after- 
ward Marquand & Barton, Marquand & Brothers, Marquand & Co., 
who were succeeded in 1839 by Ball, Tompkins & Black, and in 1851, 
upon the decease of Mr. Tompkins, the present style of firm was adopted, 
the partners then being Henry Ball, William Black, and Ebenezer Mon- 
roe ; this continued till 1865, when William D. Black and Elbert B. 
Monroe were admitted, the firm name remaining the same. The various 
locations in which their business has been carried on have necessarily 
changed and improved the success of the house, keeping pace with the 
growth of the City. In 1810, 166 Broadway was the Jewelry Store of 
New York as is 565 and 567 of the present day ; in the spring of 1833, 
removal to No. 181 Broadway was found requisite ; in 1848 another 
advance up the great thoroughfare was made to 247 Broadway, and on the 
first day of July, 1861, the magnificent building they now occupy was 
opened with great splendor and eclat. .This building, justly ranking 
among our finest specimens of architecture, needs here a description, as 
its construction and mercantile importance justly constitute events in the 
History of our City. It was the first structure erected in New York 
City for mercantile purposes that was absolutely fire-proof, and it was in 
its splendid vaults that Messrs. Ball, Black & Co. originated the Safe 
Deposit System in the United States. 

In proportion, in chasteness of design, in rich and elegant finish, 
and in perfect keeping, we know no building in the whole length of 
Broadway that can equal it. It is built of the whitest East Chester 
marble, and has a front on Broadway of fifty-one feet, and on Prince 
Street of one hundred feet. It is six stories in height, but the upper one, 
from the shape of the roof, is not visible from the street. It has also a 
basement running the whole extent of the building, thirteen feet high, 
with vault extensions under the sidewalk. 

The first story is pure Corinthian, carried out in its details from the 
base to the summit of the entablature. The upper stories are Italian, but 
so ornamented as to be in keeping with the main story and to give 
a pleasing uniformity to the whole structure. 

. The building is well lighted, having fourteen windows in front 



besides the door lights, and twenty-nine side windows. The glass in the 
doors are large single panes; but the two lower front and first side 
windows are a single pane of heavy plate glass, the largest ever brought 
to this country, and supposed to be the largest ever made. They are 
fourteen feet eight inches in height by nine feet two inches in width, and 
of great value. 

The vestibule which we enter after passing the porch is exceedingly 
beautiful in appearance and is surmounted by a paneled arch of exquisite 
design. When the store doors are thrown open they form ornamented 
sides to the vestibule, being decorated with elegant mouldings and 
rosettes in green bronze, all specially designed for this establishment. 
The store is very lofty and of beautiful proportions. 

The interior front of the store is very rich in ornamentation — a com- 
bination of pilasters, cornices, arches, and peaks surrounding and sur- 
mounting the entrance windows and the pier which intervenes. The 
Grecian style predominates, and is treated in a rich, chaste, and original 
manner. The fittings, which are very beautiful, are composed of panels 
of richly- stained wood and gold. A series of cabinets extend along the 
south wall, forming one continuous design by means of arches, under 
which are elegant vases. The whole appearance is rich and elegant in 
the extreme. 

The business of the first floor is exclusively for the sale of diamonds 
and other precious stones, watches, and silver ware. The stock of 
diamonds in this store is among the largest in the world, offering a vast 
selection of the costliest gems of the finest water and the rarest cutting. 
Their style of jewelry is of the richest and most recherche description, 
and the watches of the finest make. The display of silver ware on the 
table and in the cabinets is curiously beautiful and wonderfully extensive. 
It embraces every article of silver ware, from an unadorned egg-cup, to 
the most gorgeously, chased and exquisitely patterned epergnes, all 
designed and manufactured on the premises. 

If the visitor can tear himself away from this enchanted temple of 
diamonds and plate, and ascend the handsome marble staircase to the 
second floor, he will find a gallery of fine paintings, rare specimens of 
the Italian, Flemish, and German schools. After admiring which, he 
can examine a wilderness of rich clocks, bronzes, marble statuary, and 
splendid mantel ornaments of every kind, together with superb porcelain 
ware of the Sevres, Dresden, and Berlin Royal Manufactories. A more 
varied, rich, and beautiful collection we have never seen. It woidd take 
a day to examine all the objects of interest it contains. 

The third floor is devoted exclusively to the chandeliers and gas- 
fixtures. The stock is immense, and exhibits every conceivable pattern, 
from the plainest to most richly elaborate, and from the lowest to the 
highest prices, to suit all customers. A large portion of them are 
designed and manufactured on the premises, but there is also a choice 
selection of English and French chandeliers, &c. 

We have not attempted to describe the decorative designs of the 
second and third floors ; we cannot spare the space, but we can state that 
they are rich and beautiful, and in perfect keeping with the first floor 
which we described. 

The fourth, fifth, and sixth floors are used solely for manufacturing 



purposes. For setting diamonds, manufacturing jewelry, gold and silver 
plate, making and repairing watches, &c, &c. Over three hundred work- 
men are here employed in the various departments of manufacture. 
Among them are the most skillful designers, engravers, chasers and 
modelers, who are paid large salaries, and are competent to produce the 
most elaborate, elegant and original designs at the shortest possible 
notice. It is not an uncommon event for Ball, Black & Co., to receive an 
order in the morning for some elaborate piece of work, and to produce a 
model entirely original and elaborately ornate on the afternoon of the 
same day, to such an exactitude and perfection have they brought the 
various departments of their vast establishment. 

People are apt to imagine when they gaze on the marble palace 
inhabited by Ball, Black & Co., that only the wealthy and fashionable 
are welcome visitors there. This is an error. Their goods are open to 
all purchasers, and at prices which can compete with the poorer establish- 
ments, the only difference being that Ball, Black & Co., from their large 
capital and resources, can afford to sell good articles at the same prices 
that many others charge for inferior goods. Their store is open to all, 
and whether visitors come to purchase or merely to examine the building, 
the same courtesy and attention on the part of the clerks is extended to 
all. This is a rule of the establishment. 

Of the estimation in which the costly productions of this house are 
held by our jealous and partial cousins on the other side as well as at 
home, we have only to refer to the expressions and acknowledgments of 
the highest authorities throughout Europe, at such times as Messrs. B. 
B. & Co. have sent any of their manufactures for competition and com- 
parison. The most costly testimonials ever presented to our prom- 
inent men have almost invariably been designed and manufac- 
tured by them, and it is but justice to add that in no department of 
American art industry, has the true mission of art been so faithfully 
adhered to, and the combination of beauty and utility been so perfectly 
attained as in the productions of this establishment. 

Sixty years ago, the foundation of this house, whose triumphs as 
exponents of American genius and skill were destined to reflect a national 
honor, was laid by perseverance and industry alone, entirely unaided by 
pecuniary capital. 

For nearly a generation, the three senior members of the present 
firm have been associated together, combining their brains, exertions, and 
abilities in leading and improving their branch of business. For an 
evidence of the success they have achieved, we have only to picture in 
our minds the commencement, progress, and the present status of the 
house, the latter rendered still stronger by the infusion of young, fresh, 
and ambitious blood, that ought to relieve the older members of a great 
portion of the cares and responsibilities which have devolved upon them 
so long. 

Messrs. Ball, Black & Co., collectively as a firm, and individually 
as men, are representatives among the sterling merchants of America, 
through whose unflagging enterprise and unswerving integrity our 
metropolis has risen to its present greatness among the cities of the 
world ; and thus, with honor to themselves and advantage to the class 
they represent, their names and lives are prominently identified with the 
history which it has been our pleasing duty to chronicle in preceding 
pages of this work. 



ARNOLD, STURGES & CO., 

125 Front Street, 



Benj'n G. Abnold, ~\ 

Edwabd Stubges, f ■\tx?\\t \m,Tiir 

Lyman R. Geeene, > NtW \ ORk. 

Adfub Eddy, \ 

C. T. Chbistensen. J 



This, we believe, is the oldest grocery house in the United States, and 
was founded by Ltjman Reed, about the commencement of the present 
century. Jonathan Sturges, one of the representative self-made mer- 
chants and millionaires of our city and country, was the senior member of 
the house until a short time since, when, without entirely retiring from 
commercial life, he resigned the business in favor of Mr. Arnold and the 
younger members. On the first of January last the new firm went in 
operation under the above style. 



HALL, BRADLEY & CO., 

Corroders of 

White L ead. 



This house has been for many years one of the leading houses of 
the Paint trade in this city, and seeing the necessity for a pure White- 
Lead, which would compare favorably with the English pure White- 
Leads, and which must be better than any heretofore manufactured in 
this country, they erected some two years ago an extensive factory in Brook- 
lyn, for the corroding and manufacture of White Lead in all its branches. 
Their factory is one of the largest and most complete in the country, and 
contains every essential improvement in machinery which their long expe - 
rience dictated as imperative to the full success of their undertaking, and 
to meet the demand for a quality of Lead which should not only be strictly 
pure, but in color, covering property, and texture, be second to none in 
the world. This Lead is corroded from the best foreign pig, the same 
that is used in the manufacture of the finest grades of English White- 
Lead ; and to the fact that they use none but the best and purest mate- 
rials, as well as every possible care in the manufacture, may be attributed 
the success which has attended their enterprise, placing their goods at the 
head of all similar manufactures in this country. 

In connection with the manufacture of White-Lead, they have for 
many years been large importers of Oxide of Zinc from the Vieille Mon- 
tagne Zinc Company, of Paris, and during the past few years acting as 
their agents in this country, thus contributing largely to the increased 
consumption of this justly celebrated article. 



new yoek & staten island 
Fire-Brick and Clay Retort Works, 

58 GOERCK STREET (Cor. Delancey , NEW YORK. 



This house was established in 1845 by Balthazar Kreischer and 
Charles Mumpetox, under the firm name of Kreischer & Mumpeton, and 
so continued until 1849, when, by the decease of the latter, B. Kreischi r 
carried on the business in his own name. In 1859, his nephew 
becoming associated, changed the style to Kreischer & Nephew, and two 
years later, upon the admission of Ad. Weber, again changed to 
Kreischer & Co. In 1861, the partnership was dissolved, and the 
present style again adopted. The success of this house in their branch 
of manufacture has been marked and satisfactory. Considerable 
difficulties had been experienced about 1854 in procuring a reliable 
supply of Clay, and the proprietors feeling the necessity of having their 
own mines, purchased the Clay property (discovered by B. Kreischer) 
situated at Westfield, Eichmond County, Staten Island, and there 
erected extensive works for the manufacture of Eire-Brick and Clay. 

The Clay here prepared was transported to the New York Works by 
means of a propeller built expressly for that purpose. Large additions 
were made to these premises in 1855, and such was the growth and pros- 
perity of this little village by reason of Mr. Kreischer's enterprise and 
success that a post-office was established, and the place named Krei- 
scherville. 

In 1865, valuable Clay beds, at Woodbridge, N. J., and Chester 
County, Pa., were purchased, and the business had become so prosperous 
that the New York Manufactory was rebuilt, and a new system of burn- 
ing and drying, together with improvements in machinery, &c, were 
introduced. 

In 1867, large works were also built in the city of Philadelphia by 
B. Kreischer, W. A. Loughridge, and George Ellis, to extend the busi- 
ness of manufacturing Fire-Brick, Drain-Tiles, and Clay Eetorts. 

For a period of more than a quarter of a century B. Kreischer has 
given close study and personal supervision to this important branch of 
manufacture. The European systems have regularly been examined by 
him, and valuable improvements have, from time to time, been made. 
Such untiring energy, industry, and perseverance, have met with the 
deserved reward of gaining the highest reputation for his goods, where- 
ever they-have been used. 




This old house, formerly Christal & Donohue, is located at No. 226 Pearl Street, 
their Warehouse forming one of the architectural features of New York. It is truly 
a beautiful structure, having a handsome ornamental iron front, painted in exact 
imitation of marble, and was erected by the firm expressly for their own use. 
Messrs. Christal & Struthers, having a long experience, are thoroughly familiar 
with all the details of their business, and the celebrity which articles of their manu- 
facture have gained throughout the country, affords ample proof that they have not 
applied themselves to their pursuits for nearly a generation in vain. They have an 
extensive factory at Brooklyn, provided with the most approved machinery for the 
production of the national "White-Lead, the Pennsylvania and Lehigh Zinc Paint, and 
colors for all use ; also the most extensive arrangements for the importation in large 
quantities, of Linseed Oil, English White-Lead, French Zinc- White, Window-Glass, 
&c. Their past and present success, and high reputation, is an evidence 3 of the promi- 
nent part they have taken in building up our city. 



STONE & BARRON, 

Book, Law, and Job Printers, 

08 Nassau Street, 

Wilijam L. Stone, j "Mrw VrkDir 

John T. Barron, j ^ EW * °R K « 



New York, April 22d, 1868. 
Messrs. Stone & Barron : 

Gentlemen — I could not more appropriately than here, tender you 
my thanks for the unusually expeditious manner in which you have 
completed this History of New York. To Mr. William L. Stone, of your 
firm, I feel especially indebted for its authorship. It would perhaps be 
out of place to express an opinion regarding its merits as a valuable and 
standard publication— of that, the press and the public will be the proper 
critics. A continuance and increase of your marked success in business, 
will not be surprising, while such industry, enterprise, and ability, coupled 
with conscientious endeavors to subserve mutual interests, continue to 
be evinced and employed in its management. 

Very sincerely, yours, 

E. CLEAVE. 



Erom the New York Journal of Commerce of April 6, 1868. 
History op New York City. — "We have received a few advance sheets of a 
new work under this title, soon to be issued in this city. It is written by William 
L. Stone, son of the well-known editor of that name, now deceased, who has followed 
his father's footsteps in the paths of historical research, as his previous works (Life 
and Times of Sir Wittiam Johnson, dbc.,) fully testify. Mr. Stone was engaged for a 
few months in his father's profession, but is now carrying on the printing business, 
which gives him more leisure for his favorite pursuits in the line of authorship. 
The forthcoming work promises to possess rare interest, not only for our citizens, but 
for all who are attracted by historical themes. 



HENRY CLEWS & CO. 



This firm has deservedly risen to a prominent position among those 
private banking institutions which have of late years found such favor 
among, and proved so convenient to, business men throughout the country. 
The marked and rapid success of this house is mainly attributable to the 
energy, enterprise, and ability, which has always characterized its efforts, 
and to the adoption of the soundest principles and most perfect system of 
the General Banking business. Conducted the same as an incorporate 
bank, it offers the same facilities, with the advantages of the individual 
and special attention of experienced and shrewd managers (always in the 
market) to the interests of those who intrust financial matters and oper- 
ations to their care. 

United States' Securities purchased and for sale ; all issues on hand 
ready for instant delivery at the lowest Market Eate, free of all Commis- 
sion Charges. Deposits in Currency and Gold received; Certificates 
issued therefor, bearing interest at the current rate. Merchants, Bankers, 
Corporations, and Individuals opening accounts with them will be allowed 
Five Per Cent. Interest on all daily balances, subject to Check on demand, 
without notice. Drafts upon them pass through the Clearing-House the 
. same as those drawn upon the City Banks. They are prepared at all times 
to make advances to correspondents on first-class current securities, 
at the ruling market rate. Collections made with dispatch on all points 
in the Union and Canadas. Orders for Stocks, Bonds, and Gold executed 
promptly, strictly on Commission. Gold for payment of Duties for sale ; 
also Loaned in sums to suit. As special Financial Agents for the Union 
Pacific Eail-Eoad Company, they offer for sale the First Mortgage Bonds 
of the Company, having thirty years to run, and bearing six per cent, 
interest, which, with the principal, is payable in Gold. 



The Devoe & Pratt Manufacturing Company. 

SOLE PROPRIETORS AND MANUFACTURERS OF 

DEVOE'S&PEATT'S PATENT LIQUID CANS, 

AND PACKERS OF 

REFINED PETROLEUM, 

IN CANS AND CASES, 

FOE EXPOET AND DOMESTIC USE. 
Geo. W. Detoe, President. Office, 117 Fulton St., New York. 



This Company was formed under the general manufacturing laws of 
the State of New York, in the early part of the present year (1868), and 
organized on the 1st of March, by the choice of 

George W. Devoe, President, 

Charles Pratt, Vice- President \ 

Frederick W. Detoe, Treasurer ; 

these gentlemen also constituting the Board of Directors. From the 
nature of the business, not less than the characters of the men in charge 
of it, we are safe in saying that few houses have done more in the past — 
perhaps none are likely to do more in the future — towards building up 
the commercial greatness of this Metropolis than The Devoe & Pratt 
Manufacturing Company, and the firms from which it has sprung. The 
officers of the Company are all men who have made their own fortunes, 
and who owe their success in life to their own unaided efforts. The 
business now conducted by the Company was formerly carried on 
by the respective firms of F. W. Devoe & Co. and Charles Pratt, 
which, in their turn, had grown out of the old house of Eaynolds, 
Devoe & Pratt, long known as the largest wholesale paint establishment 
in the United States. 

From the first introduction of Petroleum into use, this firm had 
occasion to deal in it, more or less, in connection with their general 
business, and in clue course received, at first considerable — afterward, 
large orders for shipment. It soon, however, became apparent, that 
owing to the peculiarly volatile nature of the article, the leakage from 



"barrels, particularly when shipped to warm climates, was so great as to 
render profitable returns extremely improbable, and that if the export 
business was to thrive, an entirely different package must be found, which 
should not only be more secure, but also be of small cost. Tin Cans were 
tried, but did not afford the necessary protection against leakage, until 
an ingenious mechanic invented the " Patent Can," of which Messrs. 
Baynolds, Devoe & Pratt, became proprietors, and which, with various im- 
provements, is the package now in use by the Company. We refer to this 
more at length below, merely remarking here that it combined very great 
strength and durability with economy of cost, and that from its introduc- 
tion into use appears to date the growth of the business of exporting 
Petroleum in tin, which, under the auspices of Messrs. Devoe & Pratt, 
promises to assume such mammoth proportions. 

In dissolving their connection with the original house, both the Messrs. 
Devoe and Mr. Pratt appear to have been impressed with a sense of the 
great value of the " Patent Can," and of the vast importance which the 
business of exporting Refined Petroleum and other liquids in it was 
destined to assume, and to have directed their efforts mainly toward 
developing that business. Two ends seem to have specially occupied the 
attention of both houses : First, to supply an Oil and establish its reputa- 
tion under their own brands, which should possess the best illuminating 
qualities, and at the same time be absolutely safe and non-explosive. The 
numerous, serious, and often fatal accidents which had occurred from 
using impure or imperfectly Refined Petroleum and Kerosene Oils, 
rendering it certain that an article of this class, which should once become 
known as safe and reliable, would command an immense sale ; and Second, 
to reduce the cost of Oil in Patent Cans and cases to the lowest possible 
point compared with its value in barrels, with a view to extending the 
business to its utmost possible limits. Their goods were pushed forward 
into every market of the world, and it soon became evident that although 
the first cost per gallon in Cans and cases was somewhat more than in 
barrels, it was generally found to be much less in the end ; and here we 
may mention some of the distinguishing features of the " Patent Can" 
which has obtained such a celebrity as to be absolutely indispensable to 
the trade of nearly every considerable market of the world. 

The " Patent Cans" are formed of tin plates joined together by 
seams ingeniously contrived, which, with other peculiarities of construc- 
tion, besides giving them great strength, enables them to be made entirely 
by machinery, at an important saving in cost as compared with the 
ordinary Can. They are of a square form, capable of holding five 
American (or four Imperial) gallons each, and are usually packed two 
in a case, the whole measuring exactly two cubic feet, and forming a 
perfectly secure, clean, compact, well-shaped, and easily handled package, 



costing little more than barrels, and possessing incalculable advantages 
over them ; they guard effectually against leakage, whether from rough 
and frequent handling, exposure, lapse of time, or other cause, while a 
large percentage of Petroleum shipped in barrels is usually found to 
escape, either on the voyage or before it is finally used at its place of 
destination ; being small, regular, and compact, they can be closely stowed 
in a vessel's hold or a warehouse, without injury to other articles near 
them, and at an important saving in freight, storage charges, and insur- 
ance ; they are found to be perfectly adapted to inland transportation 
in the countries to which they are shipped, and to be most convenient for 
consumers' use ; they contain also a perfectly accurate quantity (verified 
by weight), while the contents of barrels are notoriously too often consider- . 
ably less than is indicated by the gauge. 

With these points in their favor, it is not surprising that the Patent 
Cans became universally popular among shippers and their correspond- 
ents, and at the same time that the brands of Oil sent out in them, 
being carefully and honestly prepared, became equally well known and 
popular. The result has been that where these goods have been used 
once, they have been invariably called for a second time. Consumers 
have multiplied, until Devoe's Oil and Pba.tt's Oil have come to be 
" household words " in millions of families in every part of the world, 
and until nearly all the Oil required for the vast markets of Australia, 
Asia, the Mediterranean, South America, California, and elsewhere, has 
come to be called for in Devoe's or Pratt's Patent Cans, and of their 
well-known brands. 

In the early part of the present year (1868) the two houses united in 
forming The Devoe and Pratt Manufacturing Company, which is the 
subject of this sketch. By this union they expect to avoid in future a 
most injurious competition in obtaining supplies, which formerly operated 
to their mutual detriment, and that of their customers. The present 
Company also secures a combination of capital, experience, energy, and 
prestige, which, in connection with the possession of various important patent 
rights, would seem to give it practically the control of their large field of 
enterprise. The monopoly of an article almost an absolute necessity to 
myriads of households, would commonly be regarded as an evil, and 
justly so : but the liberal policy of The Devoe & Pratt Mantjfacauring 
Company will, it is believed, benefit buyers and consumers not less than 
themselves. We understand that the Company's aim will continue to be 
to keep prices at the lowest practicable point, by which course they ex- 
pect, at no distant day, that their patent packages will be brought to 
take the place of barrels entirely in shipping Refined Petroleum. 

As an illustration of the remarkable growth of this business, let us 



compare operations of a few years since with those of to-day. In 1861, 
Messrs. Raynolds, Devoe & Pratt carried on their entire packing busi- 
ness in a shed on Greenwich street, putting up on an average some 1,000 
gallons per week, and filling their cans by hand, Mr. George W. Devoe 
having the special supervision of this work. They now occupy both sides 
of Newtown Creek (an estuary of East Eiver) in Brooklyn. On these 
extensive premises are two large factories for the manufacture of their 
patent cans, capable of turning out 20,000 per day, and numerous other 
buildings for receiving, storing, packing, etc. They have storage accom- 
modations for 10,000 to 15,000 barrels of oil, tankage for about 500,000 
gallons more, long wharves to accommodate vessels in loading and 
unloading, steam engines for pumping oil, driving machinery, etc., a 
steamboat and fleet of eleven lighters (which they are increasing), etc. 
Among their lately acquired facilities is a large lighter, the whole interior 
of which is fitted with iron tanks, capable of holding 25,000 gallons, with 
which and other similar boats, they propose to transport their future 
supplies of oil, instead of receiving the same in barrels, which hitherto 
they have had to sell when empty at a serious disadvantage. Another 
noticeable feature of their establishment is the " Patent Filling and 
Measuring Machine," by means of which any desired quantity is measured 
off with perfect accuracy and allowed to run into cans. One man can 
attend to a large number of these machines, which keep industriously at 
work measuring off and emptying the oil with wonderful rapidity. The 
various labor-saving apparatus employed in this business, mostly the 
invention of Mr. George W. Devoe, and patented by him, together with 
the immense scale on which it is conducted, really enable this Company 
to offer their goods profitably at a price which, under other circumstances 
would not cover cost, and explains to a considerable extent, no doubt, the 
success of their enterprise. 

We learn that The Devoe & Pratt Manufacturing Company have 
in contemplation the speedy establishment of branch works at Phila- 
delphia and other important points, and presume their future success to 
be entirely beyond doubt. The New York office is at 117 Fulton street, 
where further information respecting the business will no doubt be 
cheerfully furnished to all interested. 



78 6 

BROADWAY 




BREWSTER 8t BALDWIN 
MANUFACTURERS OF 

FIRST CLASS CARRIAGES, 

786 B RO^D^V^k. Y, 

Next to Grace Church.] Cor. of Tenth Street. 

NEW YORK. 

ILLUSTRATED CATALOGUES FURNISHED AT BEQUEST. 

The above firm are successors to James Brewster & Sons. 
The business was established by Mr. James Brewster of New 
Haven, in the year 1809, and in connection with his factory ho 
opened a Repository in Broad Street, New York, in the year 1828. In 
the year 1838, he admitted into his business his eldest son, James B. 
Brewster, who is now the senior partner in the firm of Brewster & Bald- 
win, and the only living representative and successor of the original house 
which was initiated sixty years ago. During this entire period they have 
confined themselves so exclusively to the manufacture and sale of first- 
class work only, and their carriages have become so favorably known, 
not only in the United States, but in Mexico and South America, that 
their business has grown into great proportions —the present firm, 
whose factory is in Twenty-fifth Street, near Third Avenue, covering 
fourteen lots of ground, and employing over two hundred men in the con- 
struction of every variety of carriages. 



L. MARCOTTE & CO., 

Importers and Manufacturers of 

Furniture and Upholstery, 



French Carpets, Paper Hangings, 
AND CURTAIN MATERIALS. 



French Gas-Fixtures, Decoration. 



"Warehouse — Union. Square, north side, one door from Broadway. Factory — 158 
"West Thirty-second Street, New York. 15 Avenue de Villars, Paris. 



This house was established in Paris, France, in the year 1775, by- 
Mr. P. Ringuet, at No. 36 Rue Neuve des Petits Champs, and in the year 
1836, was transferred to No. 9 Rue Caumartin and 32 Rue Richer, under 
the firm, name of Ringuet-Leprince. It ranked King Louis Philippe, and 
other members of the royal family and nobility of France, among its 
patrons ; also, the Duchess of Sutherland, Lord Clarendon, the Marquis 
of Lansdown, and many others of the English nobility. 

In November, 1818, Mr. L. Marcotte founded a Branch House in 
New York, under the firm name of Ringuet-Leprince & L. Marcotte, 
which, after eighteen years of complete success, became " the House," 
and the Paris house " the Branch,'' under the firm name of L. Maecotte 
& Co., Mr. Adrien Herzog being admitted as partner. 

In the spring of 1868, L. Marcotte & Co., requiring larger and 
better accommodations, left their old warerooms in Fourth Street, for 
those in Union Square, and also erected a new and extensive factory at 
No. 158 "West Thirty-second Street, with the most modern and improved 
machinery. 



JEREMIAH OUINLAN, 

138 William St., New Yoke:, 

GLASS- WA R E , 

EOR DRUGGISTS, PERFUMERS, CHEMISTS, GROCERS, APOTHECARIES, 
STATIONERS, BOTTLERS, &c, &c, 

Commenced the Glass business in 1845 as clerk for Andrew Ross, who 
was established at 125 Maiden Lane. At that date the Druggists' Glassr 
Ware Trade was in its infancy, only a few patterns of goods being made, 
comprising perhaps some fifty patterns of Cologne, Pomade, &c. Bottles. 
In 1851 Mr. Quinlan commenced the manufacture of a large number of 
models of his own design and invention, as well as many after English 
and French patterns. The Moulded Stopper for Tinctures and Salt Mouths 
and other furniture, and the Round-Shouldered Mushroom-Stopper Ware 
for Tinctures, Salts, &c, introduced by him in the following year, although 
they met with the same prejudices common to new inventions, soon made 
their superiority, beauty, and cleanliness apparent to the Drug trade, and 
at the present time they supercede all other similar ware for shop furniture 
from Maine to California. In 1861, finding the necessity of increased 
facilities, Mr. Qutnlan occupied his present warehouse, and turned his 
attention to improvements in other branches of this complicated business. 
His Glass Labels, used so extensively in " labeling," have been universally 
adopted by Drug Stores and the trade. The prices of these goods are unu- 
sually low, and their reputation for durability, cleanliness, and neatness 
unequaled. The manufacture also of variovis new styles of Show-Bot- 
tles, Brackets, Counter-Jars, Prescription-Case Bottles, &c, form quite a 
leading feature in the productions of this house ; and such has been Mr. 
Quintan's success in catering to the wants of the Druggists throughout 
the country, that an extensive building is alone devoted to the " Depart- 
ment of Druggists' Class- Ware." Over three thousand Drug Stores have 
been "outfitted" by this house since 1861. 

An experience of twenty-three years, with close attention to business, 
fair dealing, and unusual ability in providing for the wants of the trade, 
have secured to this house a high reputation and unsurpassed facilities. 



Sullivan, Randolph & Budd, 

IMPOETEES AND COMMISSION MEECHANTS 

Woolens and .Goods for Men's Weak. 

80 & 82 WHITE STEEET. 



This is the oldest Cloth House in the United States now in existence, 
being successors to the firm of Wilson G. Hunt & Co. Wilson G. Hunt 
and his brother, Thomas Hunt, were the pioneers in the establishment of 
the Cloth Trade as a specialty separate from the General Dry Goods, and 
as early as 1834 the former opened a store at the corner of Chatham and 
Pearl Streets, for the prosecution only of this now large and important 
branch. Naham Sullivan, Peter F. Eaindolph, and William A. Budd, 
were all associated with the old firm for thirty years prior to the changes 
which leave them its present representatives. In May, 1856, they moved 
to the corner of William Street and Maiden Lane, and, after sixteen 
years' permanent location, occupied their own magnificent marble build- 
ing in Park Place, corner of Church Street, where they remained until 
within a few months. Keeping pace with the up-town tendency of the 
heavy commission and jobbing business, a further change has been con- 
sidered advisable ; hence we find them in a scarcely less handsome 
marble structure on White Street, a few doors from the east side of 
Broadway. It is here worthy of note, that this firm is also the pioneer 
in opening up the east side of Broadway to the heavy Dry Goods trade, 
which has hitherto clung so tenaciously to the west, and this step will no 
doubt soon be found highly satisfactory to owners of real estate in that 
quarter. The building last alluded to is six stories high, with a splendid 
lofty basement, fitted up in the most complete and admirable manner. A 
powerful steam-dummy performs the work of hoisting and lowering from 
basement to roof. The first floor embraces the offices — very tastefully 
arranged — and a salesroom, where fine foreign goods are exposed for 
sale. The other principal floors are devoted to a complete stock of foreign 
and domestic fabrics, together with a full assortment of trimmings, etc. 
while in the top floor is stowed a large surplus. The importation of. 
Woolens and Goods for Men's Wear is the leading feature in their 
business, and their commission accounts with prominent manufacturers 
of domestic as well as foreign goods are on an important scale. A notable 



specialty with them is the supplying of West Point and other military 
colleges and schools, as well as the police of New York and of the larger 
cities throughout the country, with the substantial and durable fabrics 
required for the uniforms of these extensive establishments and bodies. 
Three mills, two in the United States and one in Germany, are employed 
particularly in manufacturing for this branch of their trade. 

REMARKS. 

Until the commencement of the war, no year had ever passed during 
the long and successful career of this house without a record on their 
books of customers from every State in the Union, as well as many of the 
Territories and the Canadas. 

The commercial life of Messrs. Sullivan, Randolph & Budd, under 
the old style of firm as well as the present one, must be fraught with 
unusual pleasure and gratification, not only to themselves, but also to 
those who have — we may justly say — been so fortunate as to be ranked 
among their patrons and friends, — as to be the former is to become the 
latter. The conscientious determination and endeavor to subserve mutual 
interests, and the noble and generous principles so frequently and 
unworthily ignored in business relations, which have ever guided and 
influenced them, could not be more feelingly or truthfully illustrated 
than by quoting an extract from a letter addressed to this firm, which 
happily came to our notice. It is dated "Albany, Dec. 12, 1863," and 
signed, " Carpenter & Kirk," after the usual business communication, 
when inclosing a check to balance account, prior to a retirement from 
business, concluding : 

"This closes an uninterrupted business connection with your house 
of more than twenty-seven years' standing, during which time our names 
have never been off your books as debtors. During all this long period, 
not one single instance of misunderstanding has occurred. Though this 
payment discharges our pecuniary obligations to you, there are other and 
higher considerations that will ever keep us your debtors. Your generous 
kindness and confidence in us will always be found green in the minds of 
our children, as well as ourselves. 

Wilson G. Hunt and Sullivan, Randolph & Budd are names as 
familiar and dear to our children as they are to ourselves." 



BROOKS BROTHERS. 

Daniel H. Brooks, Elisha Brooks, 

John Brooks, Edward S. Brooks. 

Warehouses, 462 to 468 Broadway, corner of Grand Street ; and 116 and 
118 Cherry Street, corner of Catherine Street, New York. 



The business of this establishment, which is probably the most 
extensive in the world in its particular line of trade, was founded in this 
city in the year 181 8, by Henry S.Brooks. In that year Mr. Henry S.Brooks, 
who was the father of the four members of the present firm, established 
himself in the warehouse at the corner of Cherry and Catherine Streets, 
and there continued until his decease in 1833, when the business devolved 
upon his five sons, who had been with him during his prosperous and 
honorable career at that location. 

David Brooks had a store, in 1816, on the corner of Market Street. 
Henry S. Brooks, in 1817-18 — in the days when that fine specimen of 
an alderman, George Btjckjieister, wore his cue in the Board — opened 
his store on the corner of Catherine Street, which was, in 1845, replaced 
by the present building. David Brooks and Henry S. Brooks were 
sons of a physician, Dr. David Brooks, who was born in Stratford, 
Conn., and settled in New York to practice, on the northwest corner 
of Catherine and Cherry Streets, and died in 1795, of yellow-fever. 

At one period, just previous to 1830, Cherry Street, from James to 
Market, was the great center of the clothing trade, and here some of the 
first wholesale houses were established. After the West began to develop 
itself, and the grand canal was opened, business gradually worked its 
way over to the west side of the town. 

In the year 1851, the Brooks Brothers, following the current of 
trade, which tended strongly to the western side of the city, purchased 
the site of their present chief warehouse at the corner of Broadway and 
Grand Street, extending through to Crosby Street, and there erected in 
1857 the spacious brown-stone building so familiar to every Broadway 
pedestrian. This magnificent warehouse was designed under their 
especial directions, and as a result of their long practical experience, it is 
expressly adapted to the various requirements of their business. It was 
completed in 1858. Therein the principal portion of their trade is con- 
ducted, although the firm still continue their extensive business at 
the warehouse in Cherry Street, for so many years the scene of their own 



and their father's prosperity. The building at the latter locality is three 
stories in height, each floor being one hundred and twenty-five feet in 
length, by fifty feet in width, and from street to roof is stocked with 
a complete assortment of every description of Marine Clothing, Men's 
and Boy's Clothing, Men's Furnishing Goods, etc. This warehouse is 
under the special superintendence of Mr. John Brooks. 

The main warehouse of Brooks Brothers has three fronts, viz.: one 
hundred feet along Broadway, two hundred feet on Grand Street, and 
one hundred on Crosby Street. It is four stories in height, besides base- 
ment, and is one of the most substantially built, elegantly furnished,, and 
conspicuous architectural ornaments of Broadway. The whole area com- 
prised in its five floors is 100,000 square feet, and all (with the exception 
of a portion of the first floor and basement devoted to minor stores on 
Grand Street), is occupied by the Brooks Brothers. The cost of the 
ground, building, and furniture, was from $400,000 to $500,000, and we 
doubt if they could now be purchased for $750,000, so rapid has been 
the rise in real estate within the last few years. The firm are sole 
owners of this property, and of that at the corner of Cherry and Cath- 
erine Streets. The amount of annual sales in both stores is about 
$2,000,000, and the average value of stock on hand is $600,000. The 
number of persons employed by the firm in both warehouses in all 
departments — clerks, cutters, salesmen, tailors, seamstresses, porters, etc. 
— is about three hundred, and they also furnish lucrative employment to 
several thousand operatives who perform their work outside of the estab- 
lishment. 

The basement occupies a space of about one hundred feet square, 
devoted in part to the storage of Miscellaneous Stock, and in part to the 
reception, assortment, and storage of all the Linen and "Woolen Rags and 
Waste Paper which daily accumulate throughout the warehouse. Here 
they are carefully separated and placed in capacious bins, preparatory 
to being packed for sale. Many tons of this refuse are annually sold to 
paper-manufacturers. Here broad arches intersect the solid six teen-inch 
walls, which, with numerous iron pillars, ten inches in diameter, furnish 
the ground support of the immense pile above. 

The first floor opens upon Broadway, and the main section of which 
is one hundred feet in length, by one hundred feet wide. This forms the 
salesroom of the house, and comprises the departments for all Beady- 
Made Clothing, and Furnishing Goods, for Gentlemen and for Children's 
wear. In these three departments there are about thirty salesmen, each 
division having its special head, who superintends and is responsible for 
the proper transaction of all business within his appointed province. 

The entire salesroom is one of the most spacious, commodiously 
arranged, well-lighted, well-ventilated, and richly furnished and embel- 
lished on Broadway. Some twenty strong and highly ornate iron pillars 



support the lofty frescoed ceiling, and along the walls at intervals rise 
immense mirrors, sis by twelve feet in dimensions, framed in elaborately 
carved black walnut. Between them rise the capacious show-cases, 
reaching nearly to the ceiling, and mounted in black walnut, of which 
also are made all the numerous counters which intersect the floor on every 
hand. 

The stock of Eeady-Made Clothing, for Men's wear, is fully equal to 
Custom-Made Clothing, in point of fabric and workmanship. The 
Brooks Brothers were among the first merchant tailors who paid particu- 
lar attention to tbat excellence of workmanship which now-a-days causes 
Ready-Made Clothing to rank nearly if not quite as high as that which is 
made to order. 

The assortment of Furnishing Goods is likewise very comprehensive 
and excellent, so that the aggregate of garments of all descriptions dis- 
played on this floor comprises everything necessary for Men's and Chil- 
dren's wear, except hats and boots. 

The Second Floor, reached by a broad staircase, twelve feet in width, 
is found the whole area of 20,000 square feet occupied by the various 
sections of the Custom Department ; and by those of the Counting-House 
Department, containing th3 Private Offices of the firm, and the Head 
Cashier and the Book-keepers. 

Directly opposite the head of the stairs is the Rotunda, an oval de- 
partment, one hundred feet long by sixty wide, the ceiling being fifty- 
five feet high, in the center of which the sky-lights admit a flood of day- 
light. The walls and ceiling of this uniquely beautiful apartment are 
frescoed, and made additionally picturesque by classic figures emblematic 
of trade and commerce ; while in the center rises a Pagoda, fifteen feet 
in diameter by thirty feet in height. The dome is surmounted by a 
Globe Clock, with four dials, which in the evening is illuminated from the 
inside by gas-light, thus showing the time to all points throughout the 
floor. The works of this clock are situated beneath it, and operated by 
a peculiar process. The Pagoda is exclusively occupied by the desks of 
the Measurers. for all Clothing to be made to Order. 

A large section of the second floor is set apart as a Show Room for 
every description of fabrics used in the Clothing business, of foreign or 
domestic manufacture. These fabrics are mostly imported from London, 
Leeds, Bradford, Huddersfield, and other English manufacturing towns , 
and also from Paris, and various parts of Prussia. 

An important division on this floor is that occupied by Cutters, em- 
ployed exclusively for the Custom-Made Clothing furnished by Brooks 
Brothers. An idea of the extent of this branch of their business may be 
formed from the fact that there are twenty first-class Cutters in this de- 
partment. It has twenty counters, each ten feet long by five in width, 
all of which are of highly ornamented and paneled black walnut, fur- 



Dished with drawers and all approved modern equipments. All the work 
here cut out is from special measurement: On the same floor is the 
Trimming Department ; also, the Military Department, the emanations 
from which are deservedly celebrated. Many of the leading military 
officers of the country have had their uniforms made here, such as, for 
instance, Generals Sherman, Hooker, etc., etc. Attached to this section 
is also the Livery Department, wherein particular attention is paid to 
all special orders from the private families. 

An appartment fronting on Broadway, furnished in a faultless style 
of convenience and elegance, is partitioned o If from the numerous other 
sections of the floor, and in it two Cutters are continually employed in 
fulfilling the orders for Ladies, for such articles of custom-made costume 
as Mantillas, Riding Habits, and Children's habiliments. The offices 
which are also comprised in this section are fitted up in that commodious, 
complete, and liberal style characteristic of our first-class New York 
warehouses. They include the private offices of the firm, that of the 
head Cashier and his several Assistants, and of the General Book-keeper 
and his Assistants. More than one-half of the sales of this house are 
for cash, yet the firm carry from 3,000 to 4,000 accounts, which are 
extended to approved credit. Owing to the sagacious liberality of the 
Brooks Brothers, the division of labor in the financial department is such 
that the Chief Book-keeper is enabled to make a regular and precise 
monthly statement, giving at a glance the exact resources and liability 
of the concern, together with a careful estimate of all the stock on 
hand. Indeed the uniform system prevailing throughout this model 
establishment, in all departments, exhibit the judicious management 
from which flows the sure and extensive trade of the house. The 
Third Floor is partially occupied as the Receiving Room for all the 
various descriptions of merchandise manufactured by the house. A sec- 
tion of this floor, one hundred feet long by twenty-five wide, on Grand 
Street, is set apart exclusively for the Cutters of the Ready-Made Cloth- 
ing exhibited upon the First Floor. The Fourth Floor facing Broadway 
and Grand Street is the Tailors' Department, one hundred feet square, 
wherein is done nearly all the finest work of the establishment, which 
is performed in the warehouse. In the busy season one hundred and 
fifty competent persons are here engaged in the manufacture of all first- 
class styles of garments. The One-Price system is always observed, and a 
new and uniform scale of prices is arranged and adapted to the market each 
season. The Brooks Brothers sell their goods almost everywhere, and num- 
ber the most fastidious among their regular customers, some of whom are 
of thirty years' standing ; and while the ancient warehouse in Cherry Street 
maintains the character and enjoys the benefit of the old associations, 
that on Broadway sustains more conspicuously the reputation of a house, 
the memory of whose probity and utility will remain long after the 
descendants of its founders have passed beyond a world of toil. 



MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS, 

Tilton's Patent Guitars, Child's Piano, etc., 

F. ZOGBAUM & FAIRCHILD, 

IMPORTERS AND MANUFACTURERS. 

Manfactories at Mount Vernon, Westchester Co., and at Hester Street, New York. "Warehouse at 
No. 10 Maiden Lane, New York. 



The celebrated manufacturing 1 house of Zogbaum & Faiuchild was estab- 
lished as far back as 1845, when its importing and manufacturing house was 
located in Charleston, S. C, and Savannah and Athens, Ga. The trade was 
there conducted with success until 1853, when the headquarters were changed to 
New York City, the metropolis of the country affording greater facilities to meet 
the requirements of the rapidly increasing business of the firm. For the last 
fifteen years they have occupied three floors of the large white marble building at 
No. 10 Maiden Lane, while they have established manufactories at Mount Vernon, 
Westchester County, and in Hester Street, New York City. This is unquestionably 
the most extensive and most highly reputed manufacturing and importing house 
in this line in America, and its goods have obtained an enviable celebrity among 
the trade, throughout the Atlantic, Western, and Southern States, California, 
South America, Canada, and the other British Provinces. The proprietors are pos- 
sessed of a thorough practical knowledge of the mechanical as well as the mercan- 
tile details of their business, and employ resident agents in Germany and France, 
who have all European articles made to special order for this house, paying for them 
in cash. 

One unacquainted with the intricate details of this branch of business, would 
be surprised to discover the number and variety ef articles indispensable to com- 
pose a completely assorted stock of the kind. Among the leading articles may be 
specially noticed the Child's Piano, which though but two feet high, two and a half 
long, and sixteen inches wide, is complete in every respect ; Violins comprising 
over fifty different kinds and sizes, of German, French, and Italian manufacture, 
and from the cheapest to the most costly. The two most important features in the 
business of the firm are TILTON'S GUITAR, and Violin and Guitar Cases ; the 
former Messrs. Zogbaum & Fairchild have the sole right to manufacture, having pur- 
chased the patent at a heavy expense. They have been making them during the past 
three years at their factories. The demand increases rapidly, and far exceeds their 
present ability to supply it in full; but their facilities for making them are 
greatly enlarged. These Guitars are admitted to be the best now manufac- 
tured in the world. They have received the highest prize, whenever and wherever 
brought into competition with the instruments of the other most noted makers, 
never failing to give perfect satisfaction. The latter has been a branch in which 
such has been their triumph in competing with the noted manufacturers of 
Violin and Guitar Cases in Germany, France, &c, that the importation of these 
goods has entirely stopped, and this house may he said to monopolize the trade of 
this continent by their cheaper and much superior productions. Brass instruments 
are manufactured at their New York factory by the experienced workman. 
Musical boxes between thirty and forty different styles. Strings for Violins, 
Guitars, Harps, etc., which are chiefly imported from Italy, Germany, and France. 
The German manufactures of Accordeons and Concertinas, are exclusively 
imported by Zogbaum & Fairchild from the best maker, and this empowers them 
to supply instruments equal to the best French, and at the most moderate terms. 



illllfc 







Archer, Pancoast & Co. 

Manufacturers of 

GAS FIXTURES, 
Coal Oil Lamps, Chandeliers, &c. 



Manufactory and ^Varerooms 

9, 11, 13 Mercer Street, NEW YORK. 



This Louse, founded in Philadelphia in 1841 by the senior partner, 
E. S. Archer, possessed a branch iu Broadway until 1859, when the 
increasing distribution of their goods required from the commercial 
center, rendered it advisable to make an entire change of location in favor 
of New York City. The rapid growth of this enterprising firm not only 
compelled this step, but has now necessitated the enlargement of their 
facilities, still further to enable them to keep pace with the demand for 
their wares. To this end, additional six story buildings are about being 
constructed from the rear of the present premises, through the entire 
block, thus furnishing a double front — on Mercer and Green streets, — a 
distance of two hundred feet. Their principal products may be classed 
as follows : Chandeliers and Gas Fixtures, Brackets, Hall-Lights, Table 
Hand-Lights, Lamps and Lanterns, Bronze Ornaments and Portable Gas 
Works ; and a true conception of the importance and magnitude of this 
complicated branch of manufacture can only be formed upon an inspec- 
tion of the various and interesting departments required in its prosecu- 
tion. The establishment can be viewed from Broadway and is most 
ellegibly located for both their wholesale and retail trade. The ground 
floor embraces a spacious salesroom, the offices, a tool shop, and a 
compact engine-room in the extreme left corner ; the powerful occupant 
of these latter quarters, under the guidance of an experienced engineer. 



drives the requisite machinery, which is of the most improved and expen- 
sive description. Three men are constantly employed in the tool-shop 
making tools for the factory. Part of the second floor comprises a show- 
room, well adapted for the display of the classic, unique, and recherche 
specimens of Chandeliers, &c, in gold plated', and gold inlaid, as well as 
bronze and gilt; and it is not surprising that Messrs. Archer & Pancoast 
should rank as the " leaders of fashion " in their particular sphere when 
articles of such intrinsic beauty and original design are here to be seen, 
criticised, and compared. The Modeling lloom, and Bronzing and 
Gilding Department, are also on this floor — the former Tinder the 
superintendence' of Mr. Travis, who is acknowledged to be the best living 
artist in his line ; in the latter, experienced female artists are employed 
in "Embellishing;'' and the high reputation of this house for elegance 
and excellence of finish, is mainly attributable to the especial care and 
attention paid to this important process. 

The department for the manufacture of the Bronze Ornaments, for 
which the firm are justly celebrated, is situated on the fourth floor. The 
remaining portions of the factory are devoted for the " Casting Shops ' 
and other uses of minor significance. Three large floors in Nos. 17 and 
19 Mercer street, also appertain to this establishment, being required to 
relieve the overburdened factory. Leading features also in the products 
of these works, are portable Gas Works and Coal Oil Lanterns for rail- 
roads, farmers, &c. ; of the former, Messrs. Archer, Pancoast & Co., have 
secured the letters-patent, and they are now in successful operation in many 
places, among which may be mentioned the Continental and Stetson 
Hotels at Long Branch, each using one thousand burners ; of the latter, 
such is the extent of their business, that upwards of 150,000 lanterns 
have been sold in less than four months. 

REMARKS. 

The eminent success of the firm of Archer, Pancoast & Company, 
can be traced to the following causes: Long experience, marked ability, and 
ample meaus in catering to the wants of a critical and appreciative public ; 
a perfect and military-like system iu the subdivision of labor, personally 
inaugurated and maintained by Mr. George Pancoast ; the employment 
of none but the most skillful artists of Europe and America; the strict 
and upright yet liberal principles adhered to in all their business trans- 
actions ; the worthy desire and determination to raise the reputation of 
their American manufactures to the highest standard attained in 
the old world ; and lastly, the sound judgment evinced in following 
the business thoroughfare into the heart of the great city, where talent, 
industry, and integrity secure their reward so much more rapidly than 
in the other larg;e cities of our continent. 



Fairbanks & Co., 

252 Broadway. 



The Fairbanks Scale was invented in 1829 by Thaddeus Fairbanks, 
who, while engaged with his brother in manufacturing plows, stoves, &c, 
in Vermont, was applied to to build a hemp-dressing machine for a com- 
pany in Lamville County. After completing it, they decided to build 
one for themselves and go into the hemp-dressing business. When the 
farmers began to bring in their hemp, there was at once a want of some 
arrangement to determine its weight while upon the wagon, so as to 
save time and labor. The active brain of Thaddeus was called in requi- 
sition, and he finally succeeded in perfecting a rude contrivance for 
weighing the hemp, but containing essentially the principles now used 
in the Scales. From this trifling circumstance one of the greatest 
triumphs of American genius has been achieved, and "with a small 
beginning the establishment for manufacture has grown to mammoth 
proportions, and at the present time Fairbanks' Scales are used through- 
out the civilized world. 

Before 1830, Platform Scales were nearly unknown; most transac- 
tions by weight being confined to the even Balance — the Dearborn Beam, 
and the Steelyards of the Romans. They have wrought a revolution in 
almost every department of business requiring measurement of quanti- 
ties in the sale or exchange or transportation of heavy bodies. 

From more than one hundred different varieties we glance at a few : 

(1.) Weigh Lock Scales — in use on the great canals ; the boat enters 
the lock, and the instant the water leaves, the weight is told. 

(2.) Railroad-Track Scales, Improved Iron Frames. — They are 
adopted by all the leading rail-roads in the United States and Canadas. 
Capacity up to 150 tons, or a train of cars. 

(3.) R. R. Depot Scales — everywhere in use. Capacity up to six 
tons. 

(4.) Hay and Coal Dealers' Scales — constructed of iron, with steel 
hearings free from damage by water or weather. Over 10,000 in use. 

(5.) Millers' and Transportation Scales, to be set in the ore-bed, 
warehouse, or elsewhere. Up to three tons. 

(6.) Cattle Scales — for all cattle, single or in droves. Up to 50 tons. 

(7.) Dormant Warehouse — Grain Scales — Flour Packing, of great 
value in flour mills — Wheel-barrow, Portable Dock, Commissary, Family, 
Grocers', Counter, Fine Gold Bankers' and Druggists', Even Balances, 
Improved Letter Scales, adopted by the U. S. Post-Office Department 
as the Standard Letter Balances. 

The reputation of few American houses has extended so far. It has 
spread through the world. Much of their best trade is in Russia, China, 
Australia, South America. In fact, there is no portion of the world 
where the implements of civilization can go where Fairbanks' Scales are 
not in use, and around the globe they are acknowledged as the standard 
from which even courts of justice admit no appeal. 

The headquarters of this immense house are at St. Johnsbury, Yt. — 
the chief manufactory, E. & T. Fairbanks & Co. — with efficient branches 
at 252 Broadway, New York, Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, Cincinnati, 
Cleveland, Baltimore, New Orleans, and San Francisco. 



MARVIN & CO., 

Safes, 

265 Broadway, New York. 



Among the most prominent business men of New York is the firm of Marvin 
& Co., Fire and Burglar Proof Safe Manufacturers, whose Safe now stands without 
an equal. 

The business was commenced in 1842 by Mr. A. S. Marvin, who carried it on 
for about twenty years, when he retired, leaving it in the hands of his son, Walter 
K. Marvin, who is now the head of the present firm in New York. 

Within the past few years, Mr. Marvin has materially improved the manufac- 
ture of his Safe by the addition of several valuable patents ; and the appreciation by 
the public of their efforts to serve them has been such as to compel them to purchase 
a very extensive building that will afford them abundance of room and increased 
facilities for manufacturing Safes in large quantities. They seem to have spared no 
expense in fitting up their new establishment, which is situated in West Thirty- 
seventh Street, near Ninth Avenue, and is the largest building of its kind in the United 
States. Their Safes are constructed of the best refined wrought iron welded together 
with heavy angle iron corners, imported for their exclusive use, instead of cast iron 
corners so often used ; for nothing but the very best and strongest safes will withstand 
the heavy iron girders and columns now used in our buildings, when falling during 
a fire. Among the most important improvements made by Mr. Marvin is the inven- 
tion for filling safes with alum and dry plaster, thus combining the excellencies 
of the best two fillings heretofore used in fire-proof safes, at the same time avoiding 
the defects and injurious qualities of either of those articles used separately. 
Cement, lime, plaster, marble dust, and similar materials have been used as filling, 
being put into the safe wet ; the moisture combined with them, soon rusts holes 
through the iron of the safes, renders their interior constantly damp, moulding books 
and destroying papers. Another serious objection to this kind of filling is, that it 
becomes dry in a few years, thus losing its fire-proof qualities. This mixture of 
dry calcined Plaster of Paris with the suitable proportion of alum, as patented by 
W. K. Marvin, is packed tightly between the inner and outer cases of the safe, 
where it will remain unchanged for any number of years, unless a fire occurs. At 
that time the alum is melted, and being fifty per cent, of water held in crystaliza* 
tion, gives off the steam and moisture necessary for the perfect preservation of the 
contents. The leading chemists and scientific men in the country have pronounced 
this composition to be the very best in the known world, for the filling of fire-proof 
safes. 

The last safe improvement is Marvin's Chrome Iron Spherical Burglar Safe — 
which is truly Burglar Proof — from its shape being the principle of the double arch ; 
it completely defies the sledge-hammer and wedges, and the Chrome Iron is so hard 
that it is perfectly impervious to drills or acids. The only hole in the safe when 
the door is locked ani the double bolts thrown, is a small hole in the center of the 
door made in a conical or tapering form for the spindle that works the lock ; this 
cannot be driven in, nor wedged out, nor drilled into. 

The Messrs. Marvin feel sure that they now have the best Safe in the world with- 
out any exception, and are prepared to furnish them of all sizes at either of their 
stores in New York, Philadelphia, or Cleveland, or any of their agencies throughout 
the country. 



Stein way & Sons 



NEW YORK. 



Henry Steixway, the founder of the house of Steinway & Sons, was 
born in the Duchy of Brunswick, Germany, on the 15th of February, 
1797. An inherent talent for music, combined with positive inclination, 
induced him in early boyhood, to make his own musical instruments, 
on which he played with marked predilection and taste ; these were the 
Cythera and the Guitar. After having thoroughly studied the art of 
piano-making, he founded an independent business, and through a long 
series of years he manufactured Grand, Square, and Upright Pianos. 

In 1849, a long-cherished idea of emigrating to America resolved 
itself into a fixed determination, he rightly judging that the free 
institutions and- grand future of this country offered unlimited scope to 
the labor of an active, intelligent, and perseveringly industrious manu- 
facturer. In that year he sent his second son, Charles, to New York, 
to personally investigate the prospects which the new world offered to 
the Piano trade, and the probability of success. The report Avas so highly 
favorable, that early in 1850 he and his family (with one exception) set 
sail for America, and settled in this city. 

Henry Sxeinway, the father, and his four sons, Charles, Henry, 
William, and Albert, on their arrival in the new world, most properly 
resolved first of all to study its habits and customs, and also to obtain a 
thorough knowledge of the American system of Piano manufacturirig and 
doing business, and the points of difference with that of Europe. To 
effect this desideratum, although Mr. Henry Steinway had brought some 
capital with him from Germany, he, with his sons, worked in different 
New York Piano factories, and it was only after the lapse of nearly three 
years, that in the spring of 1853, the father and his four sons commenced 
business for themselves. That commencement was made with cautious 
modesty in Yarick (a small street of New York), where they rented a rear 



building, manufacturing about one Piano a week. The first Pianos made 
by the firm attracted the attention of the professional musicians, and soon 
afterward, that of the musical public generally, and at the expiration of 
a year, the firm found the building it occupied far too small for their 
increasing business, which had to be transferred to a larger building in 
Walker Street, adjacent to Broadway. 

The unprecedented success, which accompanied the firm throughout 
in their manufacture of Pianos, and the colossal proportions it attained, 
may be dated from the year 1855. In that year the firm exhibited at the 
New York Industrial Exhibition of the American Institute, held in the 
Crystal Palace, a Piano, that was constructed after a new system, and 
which was awarded, by the unanimous verdict of the Jury, the first prize 
viz. : a gold medal. This new invention, and the Pianos built on this 
system, are more or less imitated by nearly all Piano-Makers. 

The business of the firm continued to increase with such marvel- 
ous rapidity, that in 1858 the firm was compelled to purchase a large 
plot of ground, on which to erect a factory proportionate to the gigantic 
demands on their manufacturing ability. This building was erected in 
1859, and occupied in 1860. In 1863, it was found necessary to add 
the southern wing, by which the building was extended to its present 
colossal proportions. In the meantime the warerooms remained in 
Walker Street, these being brought into connection with the factory, 
located at a distance of three miles and a half, by a magnetic telegraph 
erected expressly for the firm. 

Messrs. Steinway & Sons have received for their Pianos, during the 
last ten years, at the leading industrial exhibitions in the United States, 
no less than thirty-five first prize medals ; and at " The Worlds Fair,' 
in London, in 1862, the Pianos there exhibited by them, received the 
highest recognition, and were honored by the award of a first prize 
medal. 

In 1863, they resolved to erect new warerooms in that part of 
the city, which has become the center of New York Art life ; hence, they 
selected a locality in East Fourteenth Street, between Union Square and 
the Academy of Music (Italian Opera House), on which their present 
magnificent marble palace was erected, and in which the Pianos made by 
the firm are now sold. In order also to satisfy a long-felt and oft-pro- 
claimed want, and to meet the demands of the Art interest of the 
American Metropolis, the firm erected, in the rear of their marble palace 
on Fourteenth Street, a Grand Concert Hall, 123 feet long, 75 feet wide, 
and 42 feet high, with convenient seating capacity for two thousand five 



hunclered persons. This Hall, styled " Steinway Hall," is furnished with 
a fine Organ, and is not only one of the largest, but according to the 
unanimously expressed opinions of artists, experts, and the general public, 
the most perfect Hall in its acoustic qualities in the United States. 

In order to give some idea of the present magnitude of the busi- 
ness of the firm, it may be mentioned that at the close of the year 
1866 they had in their employ 512 workmen, and that the total sum 
paid by them as wages, during the year 1866, was $533,725. 

Extract from the Official Report of the International Jury of the Paris 

Exposition, 1867. 

" To the International Exhibition of London, 1862, Messrs. Steinway 
& Sons sent several instruments, among which was a Grand Concert Piano. 
One of the sons of Mr. Steinway accompanied these instruments to the 
Exhibition; they were played incessantly, and the public, charmed with 
their great note, did not cease to throng for several months the depart- 
ment which contained them. The Jury was not less interested than the 
public by the power and charm of these instruments, particularly by the 
Square Piano, equal in sonority to the finest Grand Pianos. At that time 
in the Gazette Musicals de Paris (fourth letter on the musical instruments 
at the International Exhibition of London), we gave a report of the effect 
produced by these Pianos. The sole (unique) award of this Exhibition was 
given to Messrs. Steinway. 



Their instruments are equally endowed with the splendid sonority of 
the instruments of their competitors : they also possess that seizing large- 
ness and volume of tone, hitherto unknown, which fills the greatest space. 
Brilliant in the treble, singing in the middle, and formidable in the bass, 
this sonority acts with irresistible power on the organs of hearing. In 
regard to expression, delicate shading, variety of accentuation, the instru- 
ments of Messrs. Steinway have over those of all other makers an advan- 
tage which cannot be contested. The blow of the hammer is heard much 
less, and the pianist feels under his hands an action subtle and easy, 
which permits him at will to be powerful or light, vehement or graceful. 

These Pianos are at the same time the instrument of the virtuoso who 
wishes to astonish by the eclat of his execution, and of the artist who 
applies his talent to the music of thought and sentiment, bequeathed to 
us by the illustrious masters : in one word, they are at the same time the 
Pianos for the concert-room and the parlor, possessing an unexceptional 
sonority." 



THE NOVELTY IRON WORKS, 

NEW YORK, 

Foot of 1 2th Street, East River, 

Horatio Allen, President, - - - W. P. Trowbridge, Vice-President, 
J. W. Stratton, Secretary and Treasurer. 



The extensive business of the Novelty Iron "Works, ot New York City, dates its origin as far back 
as over thirty years ago, to the building of the famous steam-boat, the Novelty, built by Dr. Euphalet 
Nott, of Union College, this boat being the first which was propelled by an Engine and Boilers 
invented by that gentleman, for using anthracite coal. To him belongs the high credit of conceiving 
and successfully inaugurating that great experiment, the benefits of which are beyond calculation . 
In the words of another, " this steam-boat was Novel in the Fuel, Novel in the Boiler, Novel in the 
Engine : and hence the name of Novelty was given to it. To make alterations and repairs in this boa t , it 
was laid up at a wharf on the premises now belonging to the Novelty Iron Works, and a small shop was 
put up for these purposes. This shop had obtained in the neighborhood the name of The Novelty's 
Works. On this shop being enlarged and applied to general business, it retained the name thus 
incidentally given, but with the changes from Novelty's Works to Novelty Works, and then to 
Novelty Iron Works." 

Among the many and varied articles manufactured at this establishment, we give a list of some 
of the principal : 

Ocean, Bivee, Side-wheel, and Propeller Engines, of the largest size ; also, 

Horizontal Stationary Engines, from 5 to 24 inches diameter, by 16 to 72 inches stroke, and 
from 5 to 250-horse power, and severally adapted for Plantation work, or for Manufacturing purposes. 

Beam Engines, both Condensing and Non-Condensing, from 12 to 16 inches diameter, by 36 to 72 
inches stroke. 

Beam-Pumping Engines, for Sugar-Houses, and for working Vacuum Pans, arranged with 2 
single-act ins? vertical pumps, 23 inches in diameter by 18 stroke, and 32 inches diameter by 30 stroke ; 
the steam cylinders being 12 inches diameter by 36 stroke, and 14 inches diameter by 48 stroke. 

Donkey-Engines, for hoisting and other purposes, where small power and a compact engine are 
wanted. The Oscillators are of 4 sizes, ranging from 4 to 14 inches diameter, and from 6 to 12 inches 

stroke. 

All the above Engines are furnished with new and improved appliances, which specially adapt 
them to the varied work for which they are required. 

Plain Cylinder Boilers, with cast-iron or wrought-iron heads and steam dome, from 24 to 18 
inches diameter, by 30 to 45 feet long. 

Cylinder Flue Boilers, with wrought-iron heads ; 2 flues, steam dome,- from 30 to 60 inches 
diameter, by 20 to 32 feet long, with from 9 to 20 inch flues. 

Cylinder Tubular BorLElis, with wrought-iron heads, steam dome, and supporting brackets, 
from 26 to 66 inches diameter, by 10 to 16 feet long, with from 19 to 68 inch tubes. 

Locomotive Boilers, from 5 to 100 horse power, complete with grate, fixtures, and smoke-pipe. 

Vertical Tubular Boilers, with round shell and furnace, for hoisting engines and tor portable 

purposes. 

Boiler Fixtures, of every variety now in use, including all required in setting any kind of Boiler. 

Sugar-Cane Mills, with rolls from 22 to 30 inches diameter, by 42 to 84 inches long. Vacuum 
Pans now in extensive use in the leading Sugar Befineries, and from 4 to 10 feet diameter. Sugar- 
Clardjiers of 24 sizes, from 550 to 1,100 gallons. Steam Taches, from 200 to 300 gallons. Complete 
Pice Machinery for Plantations. Hydraulic and Hand Cotton Presses, for compressing bales for 
shipping. Hydraulic Oil Presses, for extracting the oil from cotton or flax-seed, with the necessary 
shafting and gears to drive them. Cattle-Mills, with rolls from 10 to 18 inches diameter, by 12 to 
22 inches long, fitted with the necessary gear for cattle. Hydraulic Fixtures, Circular Saw-Mills, 
Wrought-Lron Steam and Gas Pipe, with all requisite fixtures ; Movable Cranes, Hoisting Gear, 

Architectural Department of the Novelty Iron Works, 

77 & 83 LIBERTY ST., NEW YORK, Cor. Broadwy. 
Complete Fire-Proof Buildings, Bridges, Corrugated Iron Roofs, Columns, 
Lintels Floors, Casings, Shutters, Vaults, Safes, Railings, and all Cast and 
Wrought Iron Work used in and about Buildings. 



W. H. SCHIEFFELIN & CO., 
Importers and Jobbers of 

Drugs, Fancy Goods, Perfumery, 

&c, &c. 

170 & 172 William Street, 
NEW YORK. 



The Establishment under notice is the oldest and most extensive of its kind in 
the United States. It was originated before the beginning of the present century 
by Mr. Jacob Schieffelin, whose warehouse at that time was at 193 Pearl Street 
in this city. The location was subsequently changed to Maiden Lane, where the busi- 
ness was continued until 1841, when the vast increase of its operations demanding more 
room, the firm, under the style of H. H. Schiepfelin & Co., removed to 104 and 
10(5 John Street. In the year 1848, having bought and added to their business the 
stock and trade of Hoadley, Phelps & Co., one of the largest and most respectable 
houses in the city at that time, the style of the firm was changed to Schieffelin 
Brothers & Co. In May, 1854, their business being increased so much as to 
require still more ample accommodations, the establishment was removed to the 
present spacious warehouse at 170 and 172 William Street, cor of Beekman. This 
warehouse was constructed expressly for themselves, and is universally regarded as 
a model one, being admirably adapted, in every respect, for the varied requirements 
of the wholesale trade in Drugs, Chemicals, Perfumery, Druggists' Sundries, etc. 

In January, 1865, the firm of Schieffelin Brothers & Co. was dissolved^ 
Mr. Samuel, B. Schieffelin retiring from active business, and the name of the 
house was altered to W. H. Schieffelin & Co., the firm being composed, as at 
present, of the following gentlemen : 

Joseph H. Westerfield, James L. Schieffelin, 

William A. Gellatly, Sidney A. Schieffelin, 

William H. Schieffelin, Bradhurst Schieffelin, 
William N. Clark, Jr., Special Partners. 

General Partners. 

All of the present firm, with one exception, were partners in the old firm ; 
and all the general partners were trained to the business from their youth in this 
house, and have had severally from fifteen to thirty years' intimate practical knowl- 
edge of the business. Mr. W. H. Schieffelin is of the fourth generation of the 
family engaged in the wholesale Drug Business, which has been handed down from 
father to son for the greater part of a century. This is a record of which any mer_ 
cantile firm might be proud ; and while it is very unusual to find a house whose 



business has been carried on and transmitted to successive generations for so long a 
period, it is doubtless one circumstance which has contributed much to the high 
reputation of the house. 

THE WAREHOUSE, 

at 170 and 172 William Street, is a brick structure, six stories in height, with base- 
ment and sub-cellar, and numerous fire-proof vaults extending under the sidewalk. 
It has a front of seventy-eight feet on Beekman Street, and eighty-eight feet on 
William Street, and more than eighty persons are continually employed in the various 
departments, all of which are organized under a system peculiar to this house, by 
means of which each branch of the business is greatly facilitated, perfect order and 
accuracy being insured throughout — the work in each section being always confined 
to its own set of employes, whose discipline is thus rendered the more complete > 
and enables them to fill all orders with surety and dispatch. The benefits of such 
system in any warehouse are obvious ; but especially so in a business like this, 
where ignorance or carelessness is liable to involve the security of human life. 

THE SUB-CELLAR, 

is mainly devoted to the storage of goods, such as original packages of Indigo, Sal 
Soda, Carbonate of Ammonia, Chloride of Lime, Camphor, Asafoetida, Bi-Cirbonate 
of Soda, Olive and other Oils, Balsam Copaiva, Soaps, Paints, and other goods of 
great bulk. In one division is the Engine Room, eighteen feet in length by nine in 
width, and here is an engine of twenty-horse power, one of the latest improved 
patterns, made by N. P. Otis & Brother, of Yonkers, used to hoist the two Elevators 
— one from the basement to the street, the other from the street to the sixth story. 

THE BASEMENT, 

like the Sub-Cellar, is admirably regulated, and kept scrupulously clean. 

The Boiler-Room, communicating by a short flight of steps, extends under the 
street, is thirty-three feet long by fifteen wide, and contains a flue Boiler 
twelve feet long, three and a half feet in diameter, with forty-three flues, each three 
inches wide, consuming over two tons of coal per week. It also supplies the whole 
building with steam heat. 

There are numerous Fire-Proof Vaults communicating with the basement and 
built beneath the sidewalk, dry, cool, and well ventilated, each furnished with two 
iron doors, one of which is grated, a uniform temperature being maintained in all. 
One of these, twenty feet long by fifteen feet wide, is used for the storage of all 
packages of Vanilla Bean, Musk, Opium, Morphine, Ottar of Roses, and all the 
more costly Essential Oils. There are two others, of about the same size, for the 
storage of such Oils as Bergamot, Lemon, Orange, Lavender, Rosemary, Savin, 
Cassia, Cloves, Anise, Wintergreen, Sassafras, etc. Another is the Acid Vault, for 
Muriatic, Sulphuric, Nitric Acids, etc. Besides these are a Miscellaneous Vault for 
Ointments and Paints, the Ammonia Water Vault, Ether Vault, the Safe Vault, 
a Vault for Extracts and Tinctures, and one for Liquid Extracts, Congress 
Water, etc. 

The main floor of the Basement is divided into three departments. One of 
these is the room for the storage of full packages of the heavier descriptions of goods, 
such as Tartaric Acid, Cream of Tartar in its crystalized form, Madder, Gum 
Arabic, Epsom Salts, Alum, Isinglass, Borax, Oxalic Acid, Blue Vitriol, Copperas* 
Saleratus, Olive Oil in Boxes, &c. 



Another is termed the Sponge Room, containing rows of mammoth bins, filled 
with strings of all the different kinds of Turkish, Mediterranean and Bahama 
Sponges — a very extensive stock, and more varied and excellent than we ever saw 
before. Some idea of the variety of grades may be had from the fact that these 
Sponges range in price from as low as fifteen cents to thirty-five dollars a pound. 

In the same room are a series of large closets, which contain the stock of 
Chamois, Sheep, Kid, and other Skins, used for medical and other purposes. The 
third apartment in the basement is appropriated for the Wholesale Stock of Miscel- 
laneous Fancy Goods, comprising Soaps, Hair Oils, Pomades, Perfumery, Mirrors 
and Toilet Articles generally in demand by the trade. 

We may here remark that this house was the first in its line of business to 
appreciate the desirableness of a Department exclusively for the sale of Perfumery, 
Fancy Goods, and that large class of articles known in Europe as Druggists' Sun- 
dries — a technical name, which, although little known in the nomenclature of the 
drug business a few years since, has now become familiar to the ear of druggists as 
a household word. 

THE FIRST FLOOR, 

which fronts on William and Beekman Streets, includes the Counting Room, or 
Office Proper, which is the center from which radiates all the vast operations of this 
large establishment. There are over a score of book-keepers, salesmen, correspond- 
ents, entry clerks, &c, engaged in this room, which has much the appearance of a 
large banking or insurance office. Here is carried on the vast correspondence of this 
house — embracing all parts of our country, even to California, and the Canadas, 
West Indies, Central and South America, and Sandwich Islands ; England, France, 
Germany, Turkey, Hungary, Russia, in fact all Europe, besides China, Borneo, and 
the East Indies. Indeed we may safely say there is scarcely a part of the habitable 
globe where drugs are bought and sold where this house has not correspondents, and 
with which it does not transact business. 

One portion of the Office is set apart for the City Department, where are carried 
on all the transactions with the City Retail Trade : and we will remark, in passing, 
that this house gave evidence of its sagacity in early paying especial attention to 
providing for the wants and cultivating the trade of that highly respectable and 
intelligent class of dealers — the Retail Druggists and Apothecaries of New York 
City and suburbs. The extent of its business with this class of trade is very great ; 
it would of itself be considered a very large business for one house. 

Separated from the Counting Room by a partition and glass windows, is the 
Shipping and Receiving Room, for the reception and delivery of all goods. Here 
is the office of the Shipping Clerk and his three assistants, with a desk for the 
Warehousemen, whose especial duty is to examine and report on all goods 
received, and to supervise the large number of porters regularly employed by the 
house. 

Adjoiningand communicating with the Counting Room is the Fancy Goods, 
Perfumery, and Druggists' Sundries Department, which is under the superintendence 
of a gentleman who has been connected with the house from early boyhood. The 
department is filled with samples of every known kind of Druggists' Sundries, from 
the most minute to the largest, the cheapest to the most costly, from an ordinary 
Tooth-Brush to a fine Prescription Scale worth $100. These goods are in about 
equal proportions of Domestic and Foreign manufacture — American, English) 
French and German — and comprise a variety of useful and elegant miscellaneous 
articles, more interesting to examine or possess than to describe. 

The stock is choice and varied, some of its chief features being Perfumery, 



produced by the Societe Hygienique, Lubin, Coudray, and many otber famous man- 
ufacturers ; some fifty different brands of Fancy Soaps ; the world-renowned Apoth- 
ecaries' Scales, of Cattenot & Beranger, celebrated for their neatness, simplicity and 
perfect accuracy, and for the sale of which this firm are the sole agents in the United 
States ; Soda Fountains, Show Cases, Twines, Wafers, Weights, Tooth Preparations ; 
Artists' Marking, Painters' Pencil and Toilet Brushes, of a hundred varieties ; Bon- 
net, Children's Dressing, Side, Pocket and other Combs, of over fifty descriptions ; 
Syringes, of nearly a hundred kinds j Dental and Surgical Articles, such as Anatom- 
ical Preparations, Amputating and Trepanning, Cupping, Stomach and Injecting- 
and all Dentists' Miscellaneous Instruments ; Fracture Apparatus, Hydrocole and 
other instruments ; all which are used in Lithotomy, Lithotripsy, Midwifery and 
Phlebotomy ; Stethoscopes, Speculums, Forceps, Tooth-Keys, &c, many of which 
are in Cases, and any style of which is made and furnished to special order ; all 
kinds of Chemists' and Druggists' Pottery Ware, Apothecaries', Druggists' and 
Perfumers' Flint and Green Glass Ware and Furniture Articles, Druggists' Sun- 
dries, and including Birkner & Hartman's celebrated German Bronzes, of all colors 
and grades ; Pill, Soda, and other Boxes of American and Foreign make, turned 
wood, chip, paper, and metallic, of some fifty different varieties, and all sizes ; Corks, 
from the smallest Vial to the largest specie ; Drug Mills, Mortars, and patent Sifting 
Machines ; Flasks of some fifty approved descriptions ; Glaziers' Diamonds ; Grad- 
uated Measures ; Inks, Labels, Mirrors, Night lights ; Toy and Tube Paints, of 
from eighty to a hundred kinds ; Tooth Brushes, from $6 to $72 a gross ; Hair 
Brushes, from $1 25 to $48 a dozen ; Rubber Goods, Medicine Chests, Saddle Bags, 
Tincture Presses, and so on through all the wide diversity of articles which charac- 
terize this branch of business. Prominent among the most elegant of all this mer- 
chandise were the Silver Prescription Scales, in plate glass cases, with black walnut 
frames — a specialty of this house, made in this country, and unequalled for nicety 
of balance. 

THE SECOND FLOOR. 

Something more than a quarter of a century ago, we could boast of an intimate 
knowledge of the wholesale drug business, having been then attached, for several 
years, to an establishment which at that period was reputed one of the very best 
conducted and leading houses in this line. On this account we took more than 
ordinary interest, the other day, in ascertaining the manner in which the largest 
and most highly reputed drug establishment of the present day was conducted. 
The old house to which we refer, in 1840 employed about twenty-five persons, all 
told. This one as we have stated employs about eighty, but the extent of its trans- 
actions is far greater in proportion. Owing to the perfection of its system, prob- 
ably the same number of men perform thrice the former amount of work, and per- 
form it better, and with more positive security against serious mistakes. 

The most vitally important department of a warehouse of this kind is that 
which is devoted to the Filling of Orders. At ScniEPFELiN & Co.'s this is done on 
the Second Floor, the foreman of the department being a gentleman whose expe- 
rience extends over a period of more than thirty-two years, and at our request he 
gave us an insight into some of the mysteries of the place, where the old familiar 
names and odors brought back the days of youth so vividly that we almost sighed to 
exchange the world of types for that of tinctures, manuscripts for medicines, pens 
and paper for pills, potions and perfumery. 

As we passed through the various departments, we could not but remark the 
order and neatness on every hand, so different from what was to be found of old, 
when a wholesale drug-store was a model of disorder and dirt. On this floor we 



noticed an extensive and methodically arranged stock of nearly all descriptions, set 
apart for the most convenient putting up of orders, the routine being somewhat as 
follows: Orders are received by letter or person; they are entered on order-books^ 
of which some forty are in constant use ; then delivered to the packers, by whom 
they are put up and placed on their appropriate counters ; then carefully called off, 
and, if found correct, packed for shipment. 

Two sections are for City orders, large and small, and one for Country orders^ 
different sets of books being kept for each. Those for the city are delivered on 
William Street, and those for the country on Beekman. The carting is done by five 
teams, the city expresses making two trips a day, while the others are kept active 
all day long. About thirty-five experienced persons are generally employed on this 
one floor, all engaged exclusively in special descriptions of work, which they thus 
perform in the most faithful and methodical manner. Orders are filled for all parts of 
the United States, West Indies, Canada and other Provinces, and large quantities of 
goods are also exported to Europe, such as Oil of Peppermint, Extract of Logwood, 
and other strictly American productions. There is a division of this floor, under a 
competent superintendent, specially devoted to all Essential Oils, Extracts, Tinc- 
tures, Syrups, Medicated Spirits, &c, and here we saw rows of Tin Cans, some of 
which held 150 gallons, containing such Oils as Olive, Castor, Linseed, Neatsfoot, 
Sperm, Lard, Rape Seed, Cod Liver, Cedar, Hemlock and Spruce ; Alcohol, Balsam of 
Copaiva, Spirits of Turpentine, Barbadoes Tar, and Bay Rum, in wood. Closets, all 
numbered, stretch along the walls in rows, and intersect the counters, containing 
one-pound bottles of Essential Oils, here put up, as also Extracts and Powders, in 
quarter, half and pound bottles, alphabetically arranged ; one row of capacious 
closets filled entirely with clean empty bottles, the cleaning of which alone employs 
a man constantly. 

We should here state that several of the employes of this establishment, are 
practical chemists, and fully understand the manipulations of the various pharma- 
ceutical preparations ; so that when they send out a tincture, here prepared, they 
are sure it is correctly prepared, according to the Pharmacopoeia. 

On this floor also is the Chemical Department, for the supply of all chemicals 
to order, embracing the finer pharmaceutical preparations and chemicals, inclusive 
of all the articles prepared by Dr. Squibb, the celebrated practical manufacturing 
chemist, of Brooklyn. All those articles are recorded in books, according to their 
chemical bases, and are designated by name, number of closet, and name of manu. 
facturer, such as Powers & Weightman, Rosengarten & Sons, Merck, and others. 
Here also are kept Eclectic Medicines, such as those made by Keith of New York ; 
Merrell of Cincinnati, &c. 

THE THIRD FLOOR. 

of this model drug warehouse is set apart for the stock of Powders, of all kinds, in 
full packages, and such other characteristic commodities as Proprietary or Patent 
Medicines, Pressed or Shakers' Herbs, Wedgewood and Porcelain Mortars, Funnels, 
Evaporating Dishes, Jars, Gallipots, Graduated Glasses, and Pill-Tiles. Here also 
are about Three Hundred open barrels of Drugs and Medicines, numerous kegs and 
boxes of the same, and two enormous Filtering Cans for filtering Cod Liver and 
Castor Oils, receiving about four barrels of each at a time. Two or three barrels 
of Cod Liver Oil can be drawn off in a day, by pipes communicating with the Oil 
Room below. 



THE FOURTH FLOOR 

is the region of Spices, such as Anise Seed, Cassia Buds, Mace, Pimento, Pepper, 
Nutmegs, et id genus omnes. Calabria Licorice, Saffron, Rhubarb, and all the East 
India goods are stored here. 

THE FIFTH FLOOR 

is for the vast assortment of Medical Roots, Herbs and Flowers, chiefly imported, 
such as Malva, Lavender, Belladonna, Poppy, Digitalis, Hyosciamus, Wormwood, 
Taraxacum, Galangal, Seneca, Sarsaparilla, Licorice, Pink and Snake Root. There 
is also in this story a very spacious Sifting Room, containing several large and 
improved Sifting Machines, for the separation of dust, gravel, twigs and other rub- 
bish from medical leaves, seeds and gums. By one of these machines an entire bale 
of Senna, weighing four hundred pounds, can be sifted perfectly clean in a day — a 
work which by the old process of sifting required a week. 

THE SIXTH FLOOR 

is chiefly occupied by an extensive and varied assortment of Apothecaries' Empty 
Glass Ware, imported, and American Pill Boxes, Lamp Black, Twines and light 
merchandise generally. A separate apartment contains a vast stock of Senna, Sar- 
saparilla, Mustard Seed, Magnesia, and Corks of all kinds. Adjoining this is a Test 
Room, where many goods are subjected to chemical tests, to ascertain heir degreet 
of purity when first brought to the store — such as Essential Oils, Chemicals, Gums, &c. 

Vast as is the capacity of this building, it does not suffice for the wants of the 
house, nor wotild it be prudent for them to store their entire stock in one building; 
and they have therefore for many years, had a separate storage warehouse, five 
stories in height, in another part of the city, for the storage of goods in original 
packages ; and this also is exclusive of the large quantities of their imported stock, 
stored in the United States Bonded Warehouses in different parts of the city. 

On every floor of their establishment on William Street, are large tanks of water, 
with leather buckets always hanging over them; and an auxiliary provision 
against the contingency of fire is soon to be added, fire hose being already in the 
building, and ready to be connected with the steam engine in the premises below. 

GENERAL REMARKS. 

In conclusion we have only to say that after our carefiil and thorough inspec- 
tion of this warehouse, from sub-cellar, to the roof, we are satisfied that the high 
reputation, for so many years enjoyed by its proprietors, is a just one, and their 
prosperity no more than commensurate with their merits. The caution, method f 
order and experience, which distinguish this establishment above all others of its 
kind, are guarantees to purchasers that there they will get all the goods as repre- 
sented — a fact of importance to the medical fraternity — for it is not too much to 
presume that many a physician has failed in his treatment of a case, only by the 
adulteration of a drug or compound, which he administered in the thoxight that it 
was pure. 




*L?J-A'' KKss 




=-- 1* R Ifti S| 

M EDICINES , CHEMICLAXiS , 

' ' !, i*!SF^Ii„nS' & «2 &B± An" S ' 




McKESSON & ROBBINS, 

Importers and Jobbers of 

Drugs and Druggists' Articles. 



This house was established in January, 1833, by Mr. Charles M. Olcott and 
John McKesson, under the firm name of "Olcott & McKesson," at 145 Maiden 
Lane, between Water and Front Streets, in New York. 

Charles M. Olcott was educated as an Apothecary, but had served as clerk, 
for some four years, in the jobbing-house of Warner, Prall & Kay, in Maiden Lane, 
which was at that time, and for many subsequent years, the center of the Job- 
bing Drug business. 

Preceding the formation of this partnership, Mr. Olcott had been conducting, 
for some five years, a very successful business as an Apothecary, which had grown 
into a semi-jobbing business, on the corner of Madison and Catherine Streets, near- 
Pearl, which was, at that time, a good location for both purposes, as the wholesale 
business of New York was developed from the retail trade, which was at that 
period mainly centered in or near Catherine Street ; and the jobbing trade, which 
grew out of this, pushed its way through Pearl Street, from Chatham Street to 
Peck Slip, and thence downward toward the Battery, on the East Kiver side, 
from whence it entered and crossed Broadway, and moved up on the west side of 
the City. 

John McKesson, at the same period, was associated 'with John H. 
Currie — afterwards a prominent Chemist — and John M. Bradhurst, one of the old- 
est Druggists in the trade, in the retail and jobbing business, at the corner of Peck 
Slip and Pearl Street, under the firm name of " J. M. Bradhurst & Co.," in the old 
stand which Mr. Bradhurst had occupied for about fifty years. Mr. McKesson's 
connection with Mr. Bradhurst began in 1821. These partners began business by 
purchasing the stock of goods, fixtures, and lease of store-house, No. 145 Maiden Lane, 
of U. H. Levy, who was about retiring from the jobbing business ; and Mr. Daniel C. 
Robbins, of the present firm, was engaged as assistant clerk, on the first of April 
following — having previously served six years in the Apothecary business, for the 
pursuit of which he had fully prepared himself. 

The firm of Olcott & McKesson, in the autumn of 1835, purchased the entire 
stock and business of William N. Clark & Co., one of the oldest and most respect- 
able houses in the trade, who were retiring from business, and took into partnership 
the junior partner of the house, Philip Schieffelin, under the firm name of " Olcott, 
McKesson & Co." This partnership continued for about five years, until January 1st, 

1841, when Mr. Schieffelin withdrew, and established the house of Philip Schieffe- 
lin & Co., as successors to the Bradhursts, who retired from business; and Mr. 
Robbins was admitted as a partner, in Mr. Schieffelin's place, under the same firm 
name of " Olcott, McKesson & Co." The new partnership commenced business by 
purchasing the entire stock of David Prall, formerly "Warner, Prall & Ray," in 
Maiden Lane, who was about retiring ; and in the following year they purchased 
the building and lot 127 Maiden Lane, to which they moved on the 1st of May> 

1842. This warehouse, with stock and fixtures, was entirely consumed by fire, 
on the 2d of July, 1850, but was subsequently rebuilt, and arranged for the Drug 
business ; and a new partnership was established, by the same parties, as " Olcott, 
McKesson & Robbins." 

Mr. Olcott died in August, 1853, and the business was continued by Messrs. 
McKesson & Robbins, which is the present style, or firm name, of the house. 



George B. Gilbert, who had been a clerk in the house for some ten years, 
was admitted as a partner, January 1, 1854, John McKesson, Jr., in January, 
1862, and E. Theo. Paine, in January, 18G5, all of whom, except Mr. McKesson, 
Jr., had been previously trained in the apothecary business. 

To keep pace with the progress of trade and meet the requirements of an increas- 
ing business, Messrs. McKesson & Robbing built, in 1855, their present warehouse, 
which i.- situated in Fulton Street, on the east side of Broadway, one hundred feet 
below William Street, which last street may be considered to be the present center 
of the jobbing Drug trade in New York. 

This warehouse is a brick structure, with an iron front of 50 feet 7 inches, 
comprising Nos. ill and !)3 Fulton Street, and 80, 82, and 84 Ann Street. The 
whole area of building is a little over 50 by 120 feet, with five stories in front on 
Fulton Street, and six stories in the rear, with basement, sub-cellar and vaults, 
making a total of nearly 50,000 square feet of floor room in the whole premises. 

The sub-cellar is devoted to storage ; the basement is entirely occupied with 
broken packages for the execution of the jobbing business, and contains what is 
called in the trade the " Wet and Dry Departments." The first floor on Fulton Street 
is occupied for 50 feet from Fulton as an office for commercial purposes, and the 
rear, 70 by 50, is devoted to the packing and shipment of orders, as well as for recep- 
tion of goods for stock, for which purpose and for the execution of the business with 
facility, two steam elevators of six-horse power are employed, and goods can be 
moved from floor to floor with the greatest dispatch. The second floor of same build- 
ing comprises a complete assortment of Druggists' i: undries and Druggists' Fancy 
Goods, as also all articles pertaining to the business of the Apothecary and Druggist 
which require display and examination ; and the four upper floors are exclusively 
devoted to dry stock, including dry, crude goods, and medicinal and other prepara- 
tions in dry packages. 

GENERAL REMARKS. 

This house has most extensive and complete arrangements for importing and job- 
bing Drugs and Druggists' articles, but it lays claim to no exclusive or peculiar system 
of business, for it knows very well that in a new and undeveloped country like ours, 
almost every business piu'suit, as compared with the older European countries, is ina 
crude or formative condition, and that t he dealer or professional man, if he would be 
useful or prosperous in his vocation, must recognize and adapt himself to the neces- 
sities of his situation, while permanent Buccess or distinction in any pursuit can 
only be secured by considering the interest of his profession as his own, and contrib- 
uting in every possible way to that development and perfection which is so much 
to be desired. 

The Drug business, in a commercial point of view, is limited, and the profession 
of the Pharmaceutist or Apothecary, in common estimation, a humble one, but there 
is no profession which requires more varied information and acquirements in the in- 
dividual ; and while this fact is not appreoiatedjas it should be, it may r be asserted that 
there is no one pursuit or profession which comprises, as a whole, more personal char- 
acter and respectability than that of the Pharmaceutist ; as also the wholesale Drug 
trade is the most, permanent, and stable of any mercantile pursuit ; and both the 
Pharmaceutist and Druggist will be more justly estimated when it comes to be 
recognized as a fact that with the advance of civilization all of the uncivilized races 
decrease in numbers, and in civilized communities the increase of population for the 
future will be measured, not so much by the the supply of food, as by the regard 
these show to the marriage relation and to medical science. 




77./ {trwnbwfo y* - 



JERSEY CITY. N.J 



Hi u irl 



BROOK tYN.L.l 




J 1 / 



, Baker & Brother, 



Importers and Manufacturers of 

CASTOR OIL, SALTPETRE, CHEMICALS, 

AND 

FRENCH WINDOW GLASS. 

In 1843, William Baker bought the Baltimore Window- 
Glass Works. These were the oldest Glass Works in the United 
States, having been established in 1790, and always maintaining a 
high reputation for the superior quality of their manufacture. In 
1845, Henry J. and Charles J. Baker, sons of William Baker, 
became cornected with these works, and began the sale of Window- 
Glass in Baltimore, combining with it other articles demanded by 
the various branches of their trade, and doing a prosperous business. 
In 1850, the importation of the Belgian or French Glass had 
increased to such an extent, and prices were so cheap, as seriously 
to interfere with the manufacture of American Window-Glass. 
Compelled by these circumstances, Henry J. Baker went to Europe 
to ascertain the cost of the article, with a view of going into this 
business, if it could be made profitable. 

Having made satisfactory arrangements with the foreign manu- 
facturers, he returned to this country. But a difficulty now presented 
itself ; there were no facilities for the shipment of Glass to the 
port of Baltimore, and it was through this that the house came to 
New York, establishing itself under the style of " H. J. Baker & 
Brother" — Henry J. Baker removing here, in order that he 
might give his personal attention to the business. 

In 1851, Frederick G. Heye became connected with the house 
as salesman, remaining with them until 1853, when he left them to 
establish the house of "Heye Brothers." Franklin Wiley 
became a clerk in the house in 1851, and Conrad Braker, Jr., 
joined them in the following year, as book-keeper, becoming a part- 
ner in 1855. Franklin Wiley was given an interest in the house, 
January 1st, 1861. The articles of Paint, Colors, and Chemicals 
having been added to that of French Window-Glass, their business 
increased rapidly. In August, 1857, the manufacture of Castor Oil 
was also added, the house connecting themselves with D. L. Latotj- 
rette, of St. Louis, Mo., under the style of Baker, Latourette 
& Company, for that express purpose. Previous to this, they had 



relinquished the articles of Paints and Colors — not deeming it to 
their interest to continue to deal in them. 

The firm of Baker, Latourette & Company was disolved on 
the 1st of February, 1859, D. L. Latourette retiring, and the firm 
of H. J. Baker & Brother purchasing his interest in the business, 
together with his patent for oil-presses, which they still retain and 
use. They have succeeded by perseverance, and the greatest care, in 
bringing the quality of their oil up to the highest state of excel- 
lence ; and it may be said, with perfect propriety, that their manu- 
facture is superior to any other offered in the markets of the world : 
so little of the Italian oil being made, that it cannot be said to 
offer competition. 

In 1864, the firm purchased from John Colvill the Goivanus 
Chemical Works, which were erected principally with a view to 
the manufacture of Saltpetre and Liquid Caustic Soda from Nitrate 
of Soda and Pot- Ashes, but they have since erected additional 
buildings, and introduced new apparatus, for the manufacturing of 
Bi-Carbonate of Soda, Sal Soda, Glauber Salt, Kefined Camphor, 
and any other articles that come within their province as manu- 
facturers of chemicals. During this period the business of the 
Baltimore house had increased and the firm had changed from H. 
J. & C. J. Baker to Baker & Brother, and Joseph Rogers, Jr., 
had been admitted as a partner ; subsequently, the style of the firm 
became " Baker, Brothers & Company," with the same partners. 
In 18G5, the firm of H. J. Baker & Brother and Baker, 
Brothers & Company, were dissolved — Henry J. Baker and 
Joseph Rogers, Jr., retiring from the firm in Baltimore, and 
Charles J. Baker retiring from the house here. Henry J. 
Baker, Conrad Braker, Jr., and Franklin Wiley succeeded 
to the business of the house here, the firm name continuing the 
same. 

It has always been the aim of this house to do their business on 
the most liberal principles ; and it is to this as much as to their 
enterprise, that they owe their success. As manufacturers, they 
have ever striven to bring their articles to the highest state of per- 
fection, — being convinced that a well-deserved reputation would 
ultimately prove more valuable than any temporary or present 
gain that might arise from large profits derived from inferior 
articles, and having also that feeling of emulation which led them 
to desire not to be excelled either at home or abroad. 



DRUGS. 

WARD, SOUTHERLAND & CO., 

(Successors to M. Ward, Close & Co.) 

MONTAGNIE "WARD, J. P. SOUTHERLAND, J. M. PARKER. 

Warehouse, 128 and 130 William Street, near Fulton St., 
NEW YORK. 

The founder of this house was the well-known New York mer- 
chant, Mr. John M. Robinson, who commenced as a wholesale 
Druggist, in Broad Street, New York, in the year 1825. He sub- 
sequently removed to 141 Maiden Lane, where the firm name was 
changed to "Robinson & Cornell," and thus remained until 1837, 
when Mr. Cornell retired, and Mr. Montagnie Ward, the present 
head of the establishment, took his place, the firm style then 
becoming " Robinson & Ward." 

The transactions of the firm continued steadily to increase in 
magnitude and popularity with the trade, until 1843, when Mr. 
Robinson died, and Mr. Ward continued the business of the estab- 
lishment under his own name. About the year 1849, Mr. Ward 
took in one of his clerks, Mr. Charles H. Close, as partner, the 
name of the firm changing to " M. Ward & Co." In 1855, Messrs. 
J. P. Southerland and James M. Parker, who had also been 
clerks of Mr. Ward, and possessed a thorough, practical knowledge 
of the business, became partners, under the firm style of "M. Ward, 
Close & Co." 

It is a fact, creditable alike to Mr. Ward and his partners, that 
they who were so long his clerks, have become his associates in the 
conduct of his large and prosperous business. It is an evidence of 
mutual confidence and esteem, which illustrates the trustworthy 
character of the house. 

The Warehouse, at 128 and 130 William Street, consists of four 
stories, besides basement and sub- cellar, and employs from fifty to 
sixty persons in all capacities, exclusive of many auxiliary operatives 
outside of the premises. The annual sales of the house reach nearly 
$1,500,000. The firm import direct, and very largely, from nearly 
all parts of the world ; but the sales of the house are confined 
principally to the United States, and to the wholesale trade. The 
house possesses the advantage of having active and experienced 
correspondents resident in foreign parts, from whence are continually 
received fresh supplies of all such drugs, &c, pertaining to the 
business, as are grown or manufactured in distant countries. 



C. G. Gunther & Sons 



502. & 504 BROADWAY, 
New York, 

Fur Dealers & Furriers, 



IMPORTERS, 



Manufacturers and Shippers 



RAW FURS AND SKINS. 



The Oldest and Largest Fur House in the 
United States, Established at No. 46 Maiden 
Lane, 1820, by Christian G. Gunther, 
and, after forty-six years permanent location, 
removed to their present large Store. 



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